- Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
West Indies skipper Brian Lara celebrates his century against Bangladesh on the second day of the Cable and Wireless second Test at Sabina Park yesterday.
Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
CAPTAIN BRIAN Lara and vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan were in spanking form at Sabina Park yesterday as the West Indies powered their way into a commanding position on the second day of the second and final Test of the Cable & Wireless series against Bangladesh.
At stumps on a day during which the bowlers of Bangladesh were put to the sword to the delight of the hometown fans, the West Indies, replying to the Bangladesh first innings 284, were sailing along nicely at 294 for three with Lara, leading from the front after promising to relinquish the captaincy if the Windies failed to win the Test match, scoring 119 and Sarwan, in wonderful support of his captain, on 106 not out.
With three days to go, there is time for all sorts of things to happen, but with the West Indies leading by 10 with seven wickets in hand, with Sarwan still there after sharing a stroke-filled third-wicket partnership of 179 with Lara in 172 minutes off 46 overs, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Ridley Jacobs and Omari Banks to come, the odds are on the home team to move on to a substantial lead and then ease to a series-winning victory.
In ticking off his 26th Test century and his first against Bangladesh, in joining the Great One, Sir Garfield Sobers, as the West Indians with the most Test centuries, the left-handed Lara, the world record holder for the highest individual innings in the game, thrilled the grateful fans with a magnificent parade of all the strokes in the book.
It was a glorious exhibition during which he smashed three sixes and stroked 12 fours while facing 147 deliveries; and in chalking up his fifth Test century and his second against the visitors, the right-handed Sarwan was almost as brilliant - his 186-ball gem including 11 sweetly-timed, perfectly executed boundaries.
DOMINATING
Coming together after an out of sorts Christopher Gayle had left the scene in the seventh over at 26 for one - the big left-hander driving at pacer Tareq Aziz and edging a low catch to wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud, and after Devon Smith had departed in the 33rd over at 109 for two - the diminutive left-hander, dropped on 28 by Aziz at point off pacer Mushfiqur Rahman, going run out for 44 after whetting the appetite with some scintillating strokeplay, Lara and Sarwan, batting on a beautiful pitch, were so brilliant, so dominating against the pace of Tapash Baisha, Aziz and Rahman and the left-arm spin of Mohammad Rafique and Manjural Islam Rana that it was like taking candy from babies.
Sarwan, joining the action at the fall of Gayle, opened up with a stroke of class - a front-foot drive off Aziz that whistled to the cover boundary and from there on and, but for a lucky escape when on 21 at 68 for one, he drove at Baisha and was dropped by Hannan Sarkar at second slip, it was all cheers from the fans as his drives, off the front foot and off the back foot, and his cuts sped away to the boundary.
Lara, joining the action at the fall of Devon Smith, started like a man on a mission and but for the attempted back foot cut off Rafique that ended up in Mashud's gloves at 288 for three with five overs to go to the end of the day's play, never played one false stroke despite the pace at which he scored and the audacious strokes that flowed from his bat.
After checking the pace and the bounce of the pitch while scoring four runs, Lara chipped and drove Islam Rana over long-on for six and then went around the compass with strokeplay that was so exciting that it left the fans chanting, "Lara! Lara! Lara!"
The brilliance of Lara was underlined by the fact that after giving Sarwan a jump of 46 runs, he caught the attractive strokemaker at 84, and then left him behind while scoring 100 out of the first 143 runs of the partnership.
Resuming at 264 for nine, Bangladesh lost their last wicket after 25 minutes when Baisha, 34 overnight, edged left-arm pacer Pedro Collins straight into Devon Smith's lap at second slip.
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh first innings
(Resumed at 264-9)
T. Baisya c Devon Smith b Collins 48
T. Aziz not out 10
Extras: (4b, 7lb, 2w, 12nb) 25
TOTAL: (all out) 284
Overs: 95.
Fall: 1-0, 2-37, 3-54, 4-88, 5-97, 6-145, 7-152, 8-192, 9-238, 10-284.
Bowling: Pedro Collins 19-2-64-3 (3nb), Fidel Edwards 20-5-66-2 (1w, 7nb), Tino Best 20-4-53-1 (1w, 2nb), Omari Banks 31-5-87-4, Ramnaresh Sarwan 2-2-0-0, Dwayne Smith 3-1-3-0.
West Indies first innings
C. Gayle c Mashud b Aziz 14
D. Smith run out (Ashraful) 44
R. Sarwan not out 106
B. Lara c Mashud b Rafique 119
T. Best not out 1
Extras (6lb, 1w, 3nb) 10
TOTAL: (for three wkts) 294
Overs: 83.
Fall: 1-26, 2-109, 3-288.
Bowling: Tapash Baisya 14-3-57-0 (1w), Tareq Aziz 12-2-45-1 (3nb), Mushfiqur Rahman 19-3-62-0, Mohammad Rafique 19-1-61-1, Manzarul Islam Rana 18-2-63-0, Mohammad Ashraful 1-1-0-0.
