Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
SAMUELS
THE TWO-DAY match between the touring South Africans and the University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor's X1 ended, as expected, in a draw at the Sir Frank Worrell ground, St. Augustine Campus, Port of Spain yesterday.
Final score: South Africa 395 for six declared, Vice Chancellor's X1 250 for five.
As was the case on the first day, another fair-sized gathering of spectators on another lovely day enjoyed some wonderful batting and some exciting strokes, and especially and in order, from the Indian teenager Shikhar Dhawan, 66, Guyana's Ryan Ramdass, 29, Jamaica's Marlon Samuels, 37, Bangladesh captain Habibul Basher, 77 not out, and captain Ridley Jacobs the veteran from the Leeward Islands who, batting at number, matched the stroke play of his young colleagues while scoring.
LOVELY ONDRIVE
Going to bat after the South Africans, resuming at 349 for three, declared their first innings closed after losing three wickets for 46 runs, Ramdass, after losing opening partner Tishan Maraj for zero at 10 for one, reeled off five boundaries, including a lovely ondrive off Makhaya Ntini, before he edged the pacer to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers at 52 for two.
Dhawan, the 18-year-old left-hander who scored three centuries during the last Youth World Cup, and Samuels shared a third-wicket partnership of 86 before Samuels, looking so good that many were the questions as to why he is not in the West Indies team, drove at left-arm spinner Nicky Boje and was bowled at 138 for three.
In a solid and impressive innings up to when he attempted to drive through the onside without getting close to the ball, Samuels stroked seven boundaries - including two spanking cover drives off Ntini at the start of the innings.
Dhawan, brilliantly caught by Mark Boucher low down in the covers when he drove at Charl Langeveldt, followed Samuels four runs and the fans, thrilled by his strokes through the offside, off the back and off the front foot and particular so by the 14 that went all the way boundary, sent him away with a ringing round of applause.
After Shirley Clarke, the Barbadian who scored three centuries in Jamaica during the 1988 regional tournament, was leg before wicket to Langeveldt for four at 155 for five, Basher, with 12 boundaries coming from drives, cuts and pulls, and Jacobs, his four boundaries coming from drives between extra-cover and long-on, denied the visitors the satisfaction of first innings lead and a morale victory with an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 95.
Early in the morning, left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed, starting with figures of two for 93 off 22 overs, finished with five for 115 off 27.1 by taking all three wickets to fall at a personal cost of 22 runs off 5.1 overs.
Boucher, 53 overnight, swept and was caught by Basher at backward square-leg for 64 at 367 for four, Jacques Kallis, after a lovely drive through the covers, chipped, missed the ball, and was stumped by Jacobs for 17 at 392 for five, and eventually, after resuming at 167, after batting for a total of 387 minutes, facing 278 deliveries and stroking 21 fours and hitting two sixes, opening batsman Boeta Dippenaar, apparently going the third six off his innings, was caught by Dhawan at midwicket for 184.
