Chanderpaul ton puts West Indies in charge

West Indies were 266-3 at the end of the first day of three playing New Zealand A in the opening first class fixture of their tour. The game is being played at Owen Delaney Park Taupo, perhaps the only first class ground in the world with a snow capped, active volcano as part of the skyline.

The highlight of the day was an unbroken partnership of 111 between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ricardo Powell which combined vintage Caribbean strokeplay with a circumspection often absent from recent performances.

The West Indians chose to omit three players who seem certain of a place in the first test which begins in Hamilton in eleven days time. Captain Brian Lara, opener Sherwin Campbell and fast bowler Franklyn Rose were left out of a starting XI picked with a view to giving fringe players a chance to stake their claim.

New Zealand A made one change from the team that played England A in Christchurch, dropping medium pace allrounder Wayne Wisneski in favour of leg spinner Brooke Walker.

Acting West Indies captain Jimmy Adams won the toss and chose to bat in near perfect conditions, with a clear blue sky and moderate breeze. The pitch was reasonably paced and even in bounce but offered little movement to the quicker bowlers. There was some turn for the spinners.

The only wicket to fall in the first session was that of Ganga, run out by a direct hit from Sinclair at mid off. Ganga's 28 included four boundaries and he was dismissed just as he appeared to be coming to terms with the conditions.

This brought in Chanderpaul who accelerated the scoring rate. The Guyanese left hander used his feet impressively against off spinner Wiseman. By lunch Chanderpaul had overtaken Adrian Griffith's score with six boundaries to the opener's two.

The remainder of Chanderpaul's innings was more sedate. He scored only eleven in the hour after tea. Yet he always appeared assured and proceeded to a chanceless 100 which included fourteen fours in four hours twenty one minutes. He was 116 not out at the close.

Even more encouraging for the West Indian management was the performance of Powell. He has not yet played test cricket, but has a reputation as a fast scorer in ODIs. Here he produced an array of shots which suggest that he is not a slogger but an orthodox stroke maker of high class.

His 68 not out featured, among much else to admire, a six lifted effortlessly over mid off and a series of cover drives off front and back foot. Sir Vivian Richards could be heard to purr as he passed by. Powell will certainly be included in the test team next week and may remain there for some years.

Other West Indian batting was less convincing. Both Griffiths and Wavell Hinds found scoring difficult though both batted for some time. Both were out to Paul Wiseman, Griffiths caught behind attempting to force through the off side off the back foot and Hinds to a good, diving catch off bat and pad by Styris at silly mid off.

Wiseman deserved this reward as he was by some way the most impressive of the home bowlers. He was accurate, used the breeze intelligently and extracted turn and lift on a few occasions. He is favoured by the preponderance of left handers in the West Indian batting line up, but it is unlikely that the New Zealand selectors will play two spinners in Hamilton or that they will break their long standing commitment to Daniel Vettori.

Home coach David Trist watched every ball from beside the sightscreen, making detailed notes. He will have seen little in the way of a solution to his current fast bowling problems. With Allott definitely joining Doull on the sidelines and Nash in serious doubt there is a place up for grabs for one of the A team opening bowlers, Penn and Drum.

Neither took their chance today, both being erratic in line. Apparently economic figures (Penn 47 runs from 21 overs, Drum 47 from 17) were completely down to the batsmen leaving alone delivery after delivery outside the off stump.

Medium paced Styris was also unpenetrative. Leg spinner Walker bowled mostly tidily and got a few to turn. He was unfortunate not to be used until Chanderpaul and Powell were established.

A difficult day for New Zealand was compounded by the absence from the field of Matthew Bell with a potentially serious thumb injury which would seem to finally put an end to his diminishing chances of test selection.

With only one other game before the test practice rather than result will be the priority for the West Indians. It may be well into the second day before the A team batsmen face the Caribbean pace attack

Unfortunately, this excellent day's cricket was witnessed by a sparse crowd. Perhaps more than in any other country the New Zealand cricket public has forsaken the first class game in favour of the the shorter version.