Tony Becca - ON THE BOUNDARY THE FIRST Test between the West Indies and South Africa ended in Johannesburg yesterday and, with one victory in the bag, with the West Indies falling easily despite a great innings by Brian Lara, the home team must be bubbling with confidence and looking towards a whitewash.
Batting first, South Africa chipped to 368 for three on the opening day, posted 561, dismissed the West Indies for 410 and, after declaring at 226 for six and leaving the West Indies 378 to win off a minimum of 100 overs, nailed them for 188 to win by 189 runs and to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
LARA'S MAGNIFICENT 203
But for Lara, who chalked up his sixth double century with a magnificent 202, it was all South Africa from start to finish and, remembering that they won all five in 1998-99 after a closely contested first Test, looking at the bowling of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel in this first Test, it is a good bet that they will once again enjoy a clean sweep.
With captain Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis in their line-up, plus Mark Boucher and Pollock, it was not surprising that South Africa, even without Gary Kirsten, piled up such a commanding first innings total - not against a set of pace bowlers which, but for young Fidel Edwards, lack speed, aggression and skill, and not against an attack in which the bowlers were all of a kind.
Pollock's skill with the ball was also not surprising.
What was surprising was the speed, the aggression and the skill of Ntini and Nel, and although Christopher Gayle and Wavell Hinds have the power to intimidate and could blast some runs here and there, the way things look, the West Indies will have to pray that Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be on form in the next three matches if they hope, not so much to win one, but to draw one - especially if the other pitches are not like the one at the Wanderers this time, but more like those in 1998-99 when batsmen were always under pressure because of the excessive movement off the seam and the bounce of the ball.
WEST INDIES PACERS
Looking at the West Indies pacers, but for a few hostile deliveries by Edwards, they were like cheese to chalk compared to Pollock, Ntini and Nel.
With Pollock swinging the ball, dropping it on a good length and some times bowling really fast, with Ntini and Nel bowling fast, real fast, maintaining a good line and length and letting go a good bouncer and a good yorker ever so often, the West Indies batsmen, but for Lara in the first innings and Chanderpaul in the second innings, were like sitting ducks.
They were good, really good - so good that without a brilliant Lara, who escaped at 15 when he edged Ntini to Pollock in the slips, the Test match would probably have ended a day earlier.
They were so good that whenever he looks back at an innings that must rank among his best, an innings during which he paraded not so much his strokeplay, but his courage and his skill, Lara may well remember not only his record 28 runs - 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 4 - off left-arm spinner Robin Peterson in the penultimate over of the third-day's play, but also three overs of fire while in the 70s - two from Ntini and one from Nel - which really tested his skill and his mettle.
POST-MATCH INTERVIEW
In his post-match interview, captain Lara, probably remembering that it was loss number 26 in the past 35 matches away from home and that the West Indies have won only five, said it was "one of the better Test matches we have played away from home in a long time", and although it was all South Africa, he probably was right.
Although they never looked as good as their South African counterparts, the West Indies pacers bowled quite well on the second day when they picked up seven wickets for 193 runs, the fielders never wilted during South Africa's huge first innings. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chanderpaul fought like tigers in the West Indies first innings while supporting Lara, and with the ship sinking at 41 for five in the second innings, Chanderpaul, and to a lesser extent Ridley Jacobs, went down fighting with some wonderful strokeplay during a sixth-wicket partnership of 98 off 144 deliveries.
Lara also said, "I am really proud of the guys. I am proud of the way we performed, and we will be coming strong in the next Test match."
After the experience of 1998-99 when the West Indies fell apart after the first Test at the Wanderers, that was good to hear - especially as it sounded as if Lara, who will be celebrating his 100th Test appearance, plans to do something special to mark the occasion.
With South Africa one-up and on the prowl, with Pollock, Ntini and Nel in their attack, the West Indies and Lara will have to really come good to stop them.
