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| 10 April 2005 | Sunday | 30 Safar 1426 |
Nel denies Lara scoring 8th Test double century
The former skipper made 196 before he fell to paceman Andre Nel to bring an end to the West Indies first innings which closed on 347.
At lunch, South Africa captain Graeme Smith was not out on six and fellow opening batsman Abraham de Villiers was not out on one as they began their reply at the Queen’s Park Oval.
But in the final over before the interval, Smith was fortunate that Donovon Pagon was not alert enough at forward short leg when he turned a ball from Pedro Collins uppishly to the right of the fielder.
Lara had been the centre of attraction during the morning after he continued from his overnight score of 159 and West Indies from their overnight position of 281 for six.
The 35-year-old left-hander looked set to turn his 27th Test hundred into a double, but Nel bowled an unplayable leg-cutter that wrong-footed Lara and bowled him.
Lara occupied the crease for just over 7-1/2 hours and struck 25 boundaries from 286 balls and was the last batsman dismissed.
Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini collected six wickets for 95 runs from 28 overs to be the most successful South Africa bowler, and Nel gave him good support with three for 71 from 28.4 overs.
Ntini triggered the collapse of the West Indies lower order when he had Courtney Browne caught at short leg for 26, after the wicket-keeper inside-edged a ball moving back into his thigh pad and it ballooned to Jacques Rudolph.
Browne added 74 for the seventh wicket with Lara.
After his dismissal, there was little or no resistance from the West Indies tail, although Daren Powell played a handful of meaty pulls off the two key South Africa fast bowlers before he was bowled for 15 playing back to a delivery keeping low from Ntini.
Pedro Collins was palpably lbw to Nel for two, and Reon King stuck it out and tried to usher Lara to his landmark, but it was not to be.
Lara’s 27th Test century, which put him at the top of the list of West Indies test centurions, helped West Indies reach 281 for six when bad light ended play three over early on Friday.
Previously Lara had jointly held the record with Garfield Sobers who scored 26 Test centuries for the West Indies.
By reaching 41 at lunch the charismatic batsman also leapfrogged Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar into third place on the all-time list of leading run scorers in Test cricket.
Lara, who along with six other players was left out of the drawn first Test in Guyana because of a dispute over personal sponsorship, helped West Indies to 140 for three when rain stopped play before the scheduled tea interval, Ntini claiming his third wicket in the third over after lunch when Wavell Hinds edged a drive to Graeme Smith at slip to be dismissed for 32. Hinds and Lara had put on 95.
Lara was joined by skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul and continued to dominate the South Africa attack after tea, hitting three crashing boundaries off Jacques Kallis in the 49th over of the day as he moved into the 90s.
The Queen’s Park Oval crowd rose to acclaim their hero in the 54th over when he pulled a short ball from Monde Zondeki to reach his century in 137 balls, including 14 fours.
South Africa fought back with Chanderpaul offering a meet return catch to left-arm spinner Nicky Boje after making a careful 35.
Eight balls later the West Indies slipped to 204 for five when Pagon played down the wrong line to a delivery from Ntini and was bowled through the gate without scoring.
West Indies then slipped to 225 for six when all-rounder Dwayne Bravo edged a swinging delivery from fast bowler Nel on to his stumps for five.
| Scoreboard for WEST INDIES (1st Innings, overnight 281-6): |
| W.W. Hinds c Smith b Ntini 32 |
| C.H. Gayle c Boucher b Ntini 6 |
| R.R. Sarwan c Nel b Ntini 5 |
| B.C. Lara b Nel 196 |
| S. Chanderpaul c and b Boje 35 |
| D.J. Pagon b Ntini 0 |
| D.J.J. Bravo b Nel 5 |
| C.O. Browne c Rudolph b Ntini 26 |
| D.B. Powell b Ntini 15 |
| P.T. Collins lbw b Nel 2 |
| R.D. King not out 1 |
| EXTRAS (B-4, LB-8, W-2, NB-5, PR-5) 24 |
| TOTAL (all out, 104.4 overs) 347 |
| FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-13, 3-108, 4-203, 5-204, 6-225, 7-299, 8-318, 9-325. |
| BOWLING: Nel 28.4-7-71-3 (1w); Ntini 28-3-95-6 (2nb); Kallis 13-4-41-0; Zondeki 15-0-71-0 (3nb, 1w); Boje 20-2-52-1. |
| Scoreboard for SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings): |
| G.C. Smith not out 6 |
| A.B. de Villiers not out 1 |
| EXTRAS (NB-3) 3 |
| TOTAL (for no wkt, 3 overs) 10 |
| TO BAT: J.A. Rudolph, J.H. Kallis, H.H. Gibbs, A.G. Prince, M.V. Boucher, N. Boje, M. Zondeki, M. Ntini, A. Nel. |
| BOWLING (to-date): Collins 2-0-7-0 (nb3); Powell 1-0-3-0.—Agencies |
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