WI v SA : Day 5

The West Indies went down fighting today as South Africa completed a 189-run victory on the fifth day of the first of four Tests between the teams. Resuming on 31/3, Lara and Sarwan were both dismissed by Shaun Pollock within the first half an hour of play.

For Sarwan, it was poor luck as he was trapped LBW for 8 by a ball which all but crept along the pitch. Lara (5) then dragged on a couple of overs later to walk off with his team struggling mightily at 43/5 and the Test seeming as though it would be finished before lunch.

However, Chanderpaul and Jacobs had other ideas as they compiled 98 runs (a new record for West Indies v South Africa) for the fall of the next wicket. Both batsmen batted very impressively and positively. Chanderpaul in particular looked in superb form, hitting Peterson for consecutive boundaries in the over before lunch. He reached his fifty from 63 balls, whilst striking 4 fours.

Looking very comfortable at the crease, Andre Nel produced a superb yorker-length ball which managed to send Jacobs away for 25 well-played runs - 141/6. Injury and all, Chris Gayle literally planted himself at the crease. Soon after, Chanderpaul worked himself out by skying a catch to Nel at deep backward square leg off the bowling of Shaun Pollock, having scored 74 off 91 balls with 13 fours.

This left Gayle as the last recognized batsman and hope for the tourists. Unable to move his feet at all, due to his hamstring injury, he got off to a streaky start and was almost caught by McKenzie at midoff before scoring. Having survived this period, Gayle then proceeded to cut loose, dispatching Nel for a series of boundaries (including four consecutive) and hitting six in total before the same bowler got him to edge one to Boucher. Gayle's 26 took only 21 balls and boosted the score to 176.

Upon Gayle's dismissal, a frustrated Andre Nel contrived to stick his tongue out at the departing batsman. As of yet, no disciplinary action has been reported.

Pollock and Ntini then took a wicket each as Dillon (7) and Collymore (0) offered little resistance - 188 all out. Ntini finished the innings with 4/53, figures second only to Shaun Pollock (4/31). In the match, Ntini took 9/147, a superb exhibition of fast bowling which earned him the Man of the Match award.

Match Summary:
South Africa 1st innings 561 ao (148.4 overs)
(JH Kallis 158, GC Smith 132, M van Jaarsveld 73, HH Gibbs 60)
(WW Hinds 3/79, M Dillon 2/96, FH Edwards 2/102, CD Collymore 2/118)
West Indies 1st innings 410 ao (133.5 overs)
(BC Lara 202, D Ganga 61, S Chanderpaul 34)
(M Ntini 5/94, A Nel 3/78)
South Africa 2nd innings 226/6 (63 overs)
(GC Smith/JA Rudolph/JH Kallis 44)
(WW Hinds 2/55, CD Collymore 1/19, VC Drakes 1/21)
West Indies 2nd innings - Target:- 378 - 188 ao (51 overs)
(S Chanderpaul 74, CH Gayle 26, RD Jacobs 25)
(S Pollock 4/31, M Ntini 4/53, A Nel 2/49)

Result: South Africa won by 189 runs
Series: 1-0 (SA)
Man of the Match: M Ntini (SA)

Posted by Liam