Brilliant Brian defies Australia

Today was not the first time Brian Lara had turned a disappointing tour of Australia around in an Adelaide test, and just like his brilliant 182 five years ago, it is an innings that few will forget.

As with many of Lara’s trademark innings, he single-handedly kept the West Indies in the contest, scoring well over half of his teams runs on the first day, and outscoring the second highest scorer in the innings by a small matter of 168 runs. When stumps was called, Lara was unbeaten on 202 out of a score of 352, and while Australia will remain favourites on a flat pitch, it is an even contest.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul won the toss and elected to bat on a true pitch with a light covering of live grass, with the new ball expected to misbehave on the first morning before the pitch became very easy to bat on. There was little movement around for the seamers in actuality, but nevertheless the morning session belonged to Australia. Brett Lee took two wickets in his opening spell, and both McGrath and Symonds could easily have had wickets of their own, were it not for spilled catches and some close umpiring calls falling the way of the batsmen. McGrath beat the bat several times in the opening overs, but did not look at quite his devastating best, and it was his partner that did the damage. Lee grabbed two wickets in his third over, as he first got an excellent bouncer to rear off a length and catch Wavell Hinds on the gloves, and then induced Devon Smith to flash the ball straight to gully with a swinging half-volley.

The accuracy of McGrath and a surprisingly miserly Symonds kept the pressure on as Lara came to the crease following a standing ovation in what is likely to be his final Australian test, and Symonds nearly got Lara’s vital wicket with his first ball. Lara padded up to a delivery that pitched fractionally outside the line of leg stump and would have crashed into middle, but umpire Dar was unmoved, much to the annoyance of Australia’s all-rounder. Lee continued to be used in short bursts, and he returned for an even better spell before lunch, returning to line and length bowling with the slightly older ball, and in the process reduced the run rate further and picked up the wicket of Sarwan with a nasty bouncer. Symonds bowled a lengthy 8 over spell with his medium pacers, extracting swing and controlling the runs superbly, and bowling through to lunch.

Compared to what he would do later in the day, Lara did not look particularly comfortable at the crease before lunch, managing just 27 runs off 67 deliveries before the interval. However, the second session saw him settle into his masterful innings, playing Shane Warne with ease that made the champion legspinner look far from his best, and negotiating the other bowlers with increasing confidence. It was only MacGill who continued to look like he might dismiss Lara in the afternoon, and in the end it was MacGill who stopped the West Indies from moving into the box seat in the match, with two crucial wickets.

Andrew Symonds dismissed Chanderpaul for 25, but following the fall of the captain Lara launched into attack, scoring the vast majority of the runs in an entertaining 116 run stand with Dwayne Bravo. Brett Lee was unable to reign in the run rate as he had earlier in the day, Shane Warne did not look like taking a wicket, and even McGrath went at over 3 an over. Where he had been shuffling across his stumps earlier in the day and hitting the ball to the fielders too often, he was now striking boundaries with ridiculous ease, and the plans of the Australian bowlers amounted to nothing as he simply attacked without the slightest risk, and the run rate rose rapidly.

In the evening session, Lara simply dominated. He gradually ran out of partners as Dwayne Smith committed suicide against MacGill and Ramdin was trapped in front by McGrath with the new ball, but he was unstoppable, scoring at almost a run a ball off the spinners, and continuing to attack after the new ball was taken. Lee’s brilliant bowling before lunch seemed a distant memory with his economy rate close to 5, and McGrath was unable to stop the man who he has dismissed more than any other bowler.

With Daren Powell at the crease and few overs remaining in the day, Lara launched one last assault in a bid to reach his double century before stumps, and did so with a glorious pull for his 20th boundary. It was Lara’s 8th double century, a record for all batsmen other than Bradman, and a testament to the amazing concentration that has led him to two of the three highest scores in test history. While Bradman converted 12 of his 28 centuries into doubles, Lara’s effort of 8 out of 31 compares well to any other batsman. Furthermore, Lara’s innings took him past 11,000 runs in test cricket – a feat only one other batsman has achieved – and when stumps was called he was a mere dozen runs short of Allan Border’s decade-old record of 11,174 runs in test cricket. Provided the bowlers can survive with him for a few overs on the second morning he should pass that record, but either way, should his innings end, he will recieve an even bigger standing ovation than the one that greeted him to the crease with the score at 2/19.

An easy chance to dismiss Powell was spilt by Glenn McGrath in the final over of the day, completing a frustrating session for Australia’s bowlers. Despite Lara’s heroics though, the game remains in the balance on a flat batting wicket, and he will require inspired support from the West Indian seamers if he is to lead his country to a famous victory in his final test on Australian soil.

West Indies 7/352
Brian Lara 202*, Dwayne Bravo 34
Brett Lee 3/96, Stuart MacGill 2/55

West Indies lead by 352 runs with four days remaning.
Australia lead the 3 test series 2-0.