- Dellmar
Wavell Hinds (right) salutes the crowd at Bourda yesterday after reaching his 150. Looking on is West Indian captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC:
PUTTING ASIDE the controversy swirling around them in the build-up to the match, Wavell Hinds and Shivnarine Chanderpaul showed the value of their experience in a makeshift line-up with contrasting centuries that lifted the West Indies to 347 for three at the close of the opening day of the first Test of the Digicel Series against South Africa yesterday.
In an innings that spanned the entire day, Hinds reached an unbeaten 188 - his fifth Test hundred - but was happy to concede most of the adulation from a delirious Bourda crowd to Chanderpaul, who emulated fellow Guyanese Clive Lloyd and Trinidadian Jeff Stollmeyer in scoring a hundred in his first Test as West Indies captain.
LOCAL HERO
Declining an offer from the umpires to leave the field in fading light, the local hero guided medium-pacer Charl Langeveldt to third man for his 15th boundary to complete his 12th Test hundred and third in as many matches at Bourda.
Only then was he prepared to leave the field with nine of the mandatory 90 overs left to be bowled in gloomy conditions.
He resumes on 102 on the second morning with Hinds, their partnership already worth 241 runs and eclipsing the previous fourth-wicket record of 174 for the West Indies against South Africa in the last Test between the two teams almost 15 months ago at Centurion.
Ironically, that standard was set by Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, two of the players ruled ineligible for selection by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) because of their personal contracts with Digicel competitor Cable and Wireless. The pair announced through their lawyer on the eve of the match that they had terminated those contracts but it was too late for them to be considered for the first Test.
Hinds' innings, punctuated by 30 fours and two authoritative sixes off 230 deliveries, was the cornerstone of the home team's effort after Chanderpaul won the toss and chose to bat despite concern about a line-up that included two debutants in Donovan Pagon and Narsingh Deonarine.
SUSPICION OF HOPE
As is Hinds' style, he always gave the bowlers a suspicion of hope and was missed on 13 as Herschelle Gibbs failed to hold on to a sharp chance at gully when the 28-year-old Jamaican edged another full-blooded drive in Langveldt's first over.
It proved an expensive miss on a steamy day as the South Africans wilted in the humidity and pressure of the prospering Hinds-Chanderpaul. Their attack also was made to look threadbare in the absence of the injured Shaun Pollock.
The notable exception was Andre Nel, who claimed the three wickets to fall.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies first innings
W. Hinds not out 188
D. Smith c Boucher b Nel 11
D. Ganga c Boucher b Nel 0
D. Pagon c Kallis b Nel 35
S. Chanderpaul not out 102
Extras (lb5, w2, nb4) 11
TOTAL (for three wkts - 80.5 overs) 347
Fall: 1-24, 2-24, 3-106.
Bowling: Ntini 15-2-71-0 (nb2), Nel 18-6-50-3 (nb1), Langeveldt 16.5-3-49-0 (nb1, w1), Hall 8-3-27-0, Kallis 8-0-66-0 (w1), Boje 7-0-39-0, Smith 8-0-40-0.
