ADELAIDE, Australia, CMC:IN ONE of the game's most beautiful and traditional settings, Brian Lara produced another monumental innings to emerge from a run of low scores and also put an end to the latest speculation about him being past his best.
The victim of questionable umpiring decisions that contributed to a paltry tally of 102 from four innings in the previous two Tests, the left-handed maestro put aside those struggles yesterday (Thursday night Caribbean time) in compiling a well-crafted unbeaten 202 that lifted the West Indies to 352 for seven at the close of the opening day of the third and final Test against Australia.
CHEERED LUSTILY
In a series that had so far failed to capture the imagination and interest of fans in Brisbane and Hobart because of its generally one-sided nature, it was fitting that an appreciative audience of almost 20,000 spectators cheered Lara lustily from the moment he strode down the pavilion steps and past every significant milestone on the way to fulfilling the fervent hopes of every true cricket fan at the Adelaide Oval.
By the end of the day, he was in full stride and when he pulled Brett Lee for a second boundary in an over off the second new ball, the ground erupted in the golden evening sunshine as the sentimental hero reached his eighth Test score of 200 or more and ended the day within touching distance of yet another world record.
A MILESTONE
The former captain goes into the second day, today (last night Caribbean time) needing just 12 more runs to eclipse the tally of 11,174 runs by former Australian captain Allan Border as the highest career aggregate in Test history.
It was a milestone that seemed well beyond his reach at the start of the day, but the determined manner in which he registered his 31st Test hundred and fifth in eight matches this year suggests there will be many more runs coming off his bat before he bows out.
However, all talk of the end of his career was brushed aside in an innings that had so far spanned 361 minutes and included 20 fours off 266 balls. Yet, in equalling the nine centuries of former skipper Richie Richardson as the most by a West Indian in Tests against Australia, Lara was also indebted to the support he received from the latter half of the middle-order after Lee had plucked out the top three in the tourists' line-up.
Aided by the doughty Shivnarine Chanderpaul in a 68-run fourth-wicket stand that initiated the recovery from 53 for three, he then found an even more productive partner in Dwayne Bravo.
Fresh from an excellent hundred in the second Test at Bellerive Oval just five days earlier, the all-rounder contributed 34 in a 116-run fifth-wicket stand a new Test record for the West Indies at the venue.
SMITH FELL RECKLESSLY
And after Dwayne Smith fell cheaply and recklessly in giving leg-spinner Stuart MacGill his second wicket, Dinesh Ramdin also picked up from where he left off in Tasmania, scoring 27 in a 70-run seventh-wicket stand with his compatriot, who by that stage was back to the easy, free-flowing, wristy style that brought him four masterful hundreds in the Caribbean earlier in the year against South Africa and Pakistan.
The star batsman did not have things all his own way, surviving a confident lbw appeal to the gentle medium-pace of all-rounder Andrew Symonds early in his innings and taking considerable care in the pre-lunch period as he reached 27 by the interval.
But he blossomed on the resumption, hammering consecutive boundaries off Shane Warne to backward-point and square-leg to signify his growing confidence.
It was one of the few days when the match-winning bowler received little sympathy from an audience that only had eyes and applause for Lara, so desperate were they for another chance to see a fitting finale from the player who had previously regaled them with innings of 182 in the corresponding Test five years ago and 156 against Pakistan in the VB series tri-nation limited-over tournament just last January.
As has invariably happened in his previous 210 Test innings, Lara was in the thick of the action within half-an-hour of the start.
Wavell Hinds, in his first innings of the tour after recovering from a fractured little finger, was first to go, fending a lifting delivery from Lee off the shoulder of the bat to Matthew Hayden at gully.
Devon Smith, whose edged drive off Glenn McGrath just minutes earlier was missed by Warne at slip after he was distracted by a diving wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, failed to make the most of the reprieve. In the same over of Hinds' demise, the little left-hander again attempted to drive without properly covering the line of the ball and Hayden celebrated his second catch in four deliveries.
Lara's great care at the start of his innings should have inspired Ramnaresh Sarwan to also exercise caution and good judgement. But the vice-captain continued to play in the same shameful, cavalier manner of previous innings in the series.
On this occasion, he was set up for the hook shot and, for the ninth time in his Test career, fell for the trap in hoisting a short ball from Lee into the waiting hands of Symonds at long-leg.
Such disregard for the state of the match and the devil-may-care determination to play his own way whatever the consequences fuelled the belief that a player of his obvious talents should be given a timely reminder by the selectors that a place in the West Indies Test side is not the preserve of anyone never mind the parlous state of the regional team.
In contrast to Sarwan's extravagance, Chanderpaul played with typical restraint in reaching 25 and supporting Lara before the captain prodded at a delivery from Symonds an hour after lunch and gave a straightforward catch to Gilchrist.
At 121 for four, Australian captain Ricky Ponting attempted to turn the screws on new batsman Bravo, only to have to retreat as the 22-year-old counter-attacked. Runs were flowing freely in their partnership until Bravo's ambition got the better of him when another attempt at a flourishing on-drive to MacGill took the leading edge and Ponting leaped to claim the catch at short extra-cover.
Dwayne Smith hoisted a four and a six and then swung to leg once too often, skying a catch for Symonds to settle under at midwicket. In contrast to the previous batsman's depressing one-dimensional play, Ramdin looked composed and assured before being deceived by McGrath and trapped in front with the second new ball. Yet as well as the two youngsters played again, their performances hardly diverted attention from the focus on Lara.
He had brought up the hundred to a standing ovation with boundaries to backward-point and midwicket off Lee in the same over, his second fifty coming off just 52 deliveries. At that stage, it was almost impossible to stop him scoring and as he rolled effortlessly along towards another double-hundred, the crowd was already in the mood for more ecstatic celebrations by the time another pull to midwicket off Lee wrong-footed Hayden on the midwicket boundary and rocketed into the white picket fence.
SCOREBOARD
ADELAIDE, Australia, CMC - Scoreboard on the opening day in the third and final Test between Australia and West Indies on Friday at Adelaide Oval:
WEST INDIES 1st Innings
W. Hinds c Hayden b Lee 10
D. Smith c Hayden b Lee 7
R. Sarwan c Symonds b Lee 16
B. Lara not out 202
S. Chanderpaul c wkpr Gilchrist b Symonds 25
D. Bravo cPonting b MacGill 34
D. Smith c Symonds b MacGill 14
+D. Ramdin lbw b McGrath 27
D. Powell not out 7
Extras (b1, lb3, w1, nb5) 10
TOTAL (7 wkts) 352
F. Edwards, C. Collymore to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-19, 3-53, 4-121, 5-237, 6-263, 7-333.
Bowling: McGrath 22-2-80-1 (nb2); Lee 20-1-96-3 (nb3, w1); Symonds 16-5-44-1; Warne 17-1-73-0; MacGill 15-2-55-2.
AUSTRALIA: M. Hayden, J. Langer,R. Ponting, M. Hussey, B. Hodge, A. Symonds, +A. Gilchrist, S. Warne, B. Lee, S. MacGill, G. McGrath.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: B. Bowden, Aleem Dar (TV Replays: S. Davis).
Match Referee: M. Procter.
