Dellmar photo
West Indies skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul (right) sweeps for runs while South Africa's wicketkeeper Mark Boucher (left) reacts during the second day's play of the first Test match at Bourda Oval, Guyana, yesterday. Chanderpaul scored an unbeaten 203.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC:
WAVELL HINDS and Shivnarine Chanderpaul carried on to first-ever Test double-centuries, emulating one of the rarest feats in the history of West Indies Test batsmanship, to reinforce the home side's
commanding position at the end of a shortened second day of the first Digicel Test against South Africa, yesterday.
After heavy overnight rain delayed the start of play by an hour, Hinds carried on to 213 while Chanderpaul, who had reached his century just before bad light ended play on the opening day, ground his way to an unbeaten 203 deep into the final session, stroking left-arm spinner Nicky Boje to the midwicket boundary to become the first West Indies captain to compile a double-hundred in his debut match at the helm.
DECLARED IMMEDIATELY
The local hero declared immediately upon reaching the landmark with the total at 543 for five but it proved to be his one miscalculation of the day.
As he left the field to more rapturous applause from his home fans at Bourda, Chanderpaul would have recognised that the gloomy conditions were conspiring against his hopes of picking up a South African wicket or two in the 16 overs that were left to be bowled in the day.
It became even darker in the 10 minutes between innings and Pedro Collins could only manage two deliveries one a no-ball before the tourists' opening pair of skipper Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers gratefully accepted the offer from umpires David Shepherd and Aleem Dar to leave the field because of fading light.
They will resume the first innings reply on the third
morning at two without loss, their immediate task being to reach 344 to avoid the follow-on.
On a pitch that has lived up to its reputation as a batting
paradise, the South Africans will expect to have a better-than-even chance of removing that indignity from the equation. But facing
the West Indies' highest-ever
total against them could be a
psychological hurdle, especially if Chanderpaul can get the best out of his limited bowling resources.
He has already done the best that he can personally and in partnership with Hinds. The pair put on 284 runs for the fourth wicket, a record for the wicket against South Africa and against all-comers in Tests at Bourda.
Their considerable individual efforts marked only the second time in 77 years of Test cricket that the West Indies have had two players amass 200 or more in the same innings. The only other occasion was in the Third Test of the 1958 home series against Pakistan, when Gary Sobers reached a then world record 365 not out and Conrad Hunte was run out for 260, out of a total of 790 for three declared in Kingston.
The West Indies team then went on to complete an innings victory.
Punished mercilessly for wayward bowling on day one, South Africa strove to make amends with a more disciplined effort when play eventually got underway on the second day. Hinds, 188
not out overnight, needed 27 minutes for his first scoring shot, a backfoot drive to the extra-cover boundary off Makhaya N'tini. He then glided a full-length delivery from Nel through backward-point for his 32nd four to reach the double-hundred off 249 balls.
The tall pacer, South Africa's only wicket-taker on the opening day, looked desperately unlucky not to earn an LBW verdict from Pakistani umpire Dar against Hinds shortly after. But the Jamaican failed to make the most of the reprieve, edging another expansive drive off Charl Langveldt to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher 20 minutes after lunch. His 213 spanned 439 minutes and was highlighted by 36 fours and two sixes off 297 deliveries.
Another Hinds, Ryan, picked up where Wavell left off at 390 for four, supporting his well-set captain in a 116-run fifth-wicket partnership.
Given his single-minded determination, there was never really any doubt that he would achieve the double-century, the telling stroke and declaration leaving him unbeaten and unbowed after 512 minutes at the crease in which he faced 370 deliveries.
