GEORGETOWN, March 31: Wavell Hinds smashed an aggressive half century to guide West Indies to 96 for two at lunch on the first day of the first Test against South Africa on Thursday.
Hinds, batting on 54, shared an unbroken 72-run partnership with debutant Donavon Pagon (29 not out) after the hosts lost two wickets in the space of six balls.
Fast bowler Andre Nel reduced West Indies to 24-2 after removing opener Devon Smith for 11 and Daren Ganga for a duck.
Smith edged a catch to wicket-keeper Mark Boucher, who dived to his left to hold on to the ball.
Five balls later, Nel dismissed Ganga in similar fashion as Boucher held on to a regulation catch.
Hinds steadied the innings by batting aggressively and hit nine fours, most of them powerful drives through the covers.
Pagon, who joined Hinds in the sixth over, was more subdued and stroked six fours from the 62 balls he faced.
Nel, who took two for 20 in his first spell of six overs, reached lunch with 23-2 from eight overs.
West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the only survivor from the team’s last Test, against England at the Oval in August 2004.
Along with Pagon, batsman Narsingh Deonarine is also playing in his first Test.
South Africa opted for an extra bowler, allowing all-rounder Andrew Hall to return to the side after missing the two Tests against Zimbabwe.
Hall’s inclusion meant Ashwell Prince, who scored 139 not out in his previous innings in the second Test against Zimbabwe, was left out of the team.
Meanwhile, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle became available to play for the West Indies when they cancelled personal sponsorship contracts on Wednesday.
But their decision came too late to enable them to be selected in the first Test against South Africa, which starts in Georgetown on Thursday.
“Sarwan and Gayle have cancelled their contracts with Cable & Wireless, which means they will be eligible for selection again,” the chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board, Roger Brathwaite, said.
The players made their decision less than 12 hours before the first ball was scheduled to be bowled in the first Test.
Sarwan and Gayle were part of a group of seven players, including regular West Indies captain Brian Lara, who were unavailable for selection because of a potential dispute between the West Indies’ main sponsor, Digicel.
The others were Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Fidel Edwards.