World Record To Lara

Superb, sensational, superlative, just some of the apt descriptions of the innings of Brian Lara 226, out of the West Indies 405, in which he broke the world record tally of Test Match runs held by Alan Border. The dominance of Lara can be demonstrated by the next best score being Dwayne Bravo with 34. The great innings by Lara ended when he played a tired looking shot, and was bowled by Glen McGrath. In reply Australia finished the day at 229/3, after Justin Langer was heart-breakingly dismissed for 99.

The interest before the start of play was whether Brian Lara could score the 12 runs he needed to move in front of Alan Border as the number one run scorer in Test Match history, This he achieved quite early in the day, he subsequently went on to help the West Indies to easily their highest score of the series. The Australian bowling attack was steady rather than penetrative, with Glen McGrath yet again the pick of the bowlers.

The old firm of Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden set a cracking pace on a still perfect batting pitch, before Hayden fell three short of his personal half-century and yet another hundred run opening stand between the two great lefties. Enter a very sedate Ricky Ponting, who seemed hampered by some accurate Windies bowling.

At 211/1 Australia seemed to be cruising and appeared on track to challenge the West Indies large first innings total, but two late wickets to Dwayne Bravo (Ponting) and Fidel Edwards (Langer) have put this Test Match back in the balance. The Australian not out batsmen were Brad Hodge on 13, and Mike Hussey yet to score.

With still three days to go, this match seems evenly poised, but with Australia having to bat last, and their recent history of losing dead rubbers, the West Indies will fancy their chances of causing a major upset. The only disappointment for the Windies would be their poor work in the field with Matty Hayden being missed twice before finding his stride.

West Indies 405
Brian Lara 226 Dwayne Bravo 34
Glen McGrath 3/106 Brett Lee 3/111

Australia 229/3
Justin Langer 99 Ricky Ponting 56
Dwayne Bravo 2/42

Australia lead the 3 test series 2-0