By Tony Becca, Contributing EditorWEST INDIES captain Brian Lara underlined his greatness as a batsman with a magnificent record-breaking, record-equalling performance at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) yesterday.
With the Windies down three-nil and fighting to save the embarrassment of a whitewash, Lara batted through the second day of the fourth and final Test of the Cable & Wireless Series against England to leave the home team not only out of danger but, despite the pitch, also in a wonderful position from which to push for a victory.
At stumps, the West Indies, dismissed for 311 and 47, 208 and 209, and 224 and 94 in the first three Test matches, were riding high on 595 for five off 157 overs with the 33-year-old Lara on 313 and with 68 to go, looking a good bet to surpass Matthew Hayden's world record 380 when play resumes this morning.
The left hander ticked off his 25th Test century to be second only to Gary Sobers' 26 as a West Indian, and his seventh double century the most by a West Indian.
The seven double hundreds made Lara joint second with England's Wally Hammond behind Australia's Don Bradman's 12.
Lara, who stroked a world record 375 in 1994 also against England and also at the ARG, not only became the first West Indian to chalk up two triple centuries in Test cricket but in doing so, joined Bradman 334 versus England at Headingley in 1930 and 304 versus England at Headingley in 1934 as the only two batsmen to score two triple centuries in Test cricket.
Resuming at 86 after batting for 179 minutes, facing 119 deliveries and stroking 11 fours on the opening day, Lara scored 227 in 422 minutes off 307 deliveries yesterday in an innings during which he reeled off some glorious strokes.
With so much at stake, with Windies pride on the line and so much depending on him, he did not play one extravagant shot not while stroking 34 fours, not while smashing three sixes, including chipping and driving offspinner Gareth Batty straight down the ground on two occasions, and not even towards the end when the bowlers, as they were for most of the day, at his mercy.
If Lara was the happiest man at the ARG yesterday, the second happiest was Andy Roberts the curator who presented a pitch so perfect for batting that after winning the toss on the opening day and electing to bat, the West Indies, thanks also to vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, 90, and Ridley Jacobs, 47 not out, were still batting after two days.
With the West Indies needing to win or draw in order to prevent the embarrassment of a whitewash, Roberts, the ace fast bowler of yesteryear, handed the team he represented in 47 Test matches and for whom he took 202 wickets, a pitch from heaven.
Unlike their virtual surrender on the "grass courts" of Sabina Park, Queen's Park Oval and Kensington Oval, the West Indies batsmen were dominant on a pitch void of grass, a pitch with little or no sideways movement, and after chipping to 208 for two off 52 overs on the rain-affected first day, they simply, for the first time in the series, caned England's bowlers, all of them.
They scored 387 runs off 105 overs for the loss of three wickets on a day when they punished pacers Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff for their relentless, merciless attack when the conditions were ideal for them.
FLEXING MUSCLES
Although he was absent and therefore not guilty of flexing his muscles in Kingston, in Port of Spain and in Bridgetown, Batty was also flogged. In fact, with Sarwan, one, and Lara, two, smashing him for three sixes, with his 36 overs costing 141 runs, Batty, despite picking up two wickets, was most unfortunate that his first run-in with the West Indies was at the ARG on Roberts' pitch.
With Sarwan going back to Harmison in the third over of the second new ball, edging a bouncing delivery to first slip, and departing at 330 for three after sharing a third-wicket partnership of 232 off 349 deliveries with Lara, and with Jacobs entertaining his home fans with some confident strokes while sharing an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 126 off 210 deliveries with Lara, only Ricardo Powell and Ryan Hinds failed to make use of the pitch.
On a perfect pitch, with the total on 380 for three and well over three days to go, Powell attempted to pull Jones from outside the offstump and was caught at thirdman, and on the same pitch, with the score on 469 for four and three days and a session to go, Hinds carelessly drove a return catch to Batty.
