Lara stars but Zimbabwe refuse to roll over
After Brian Lara put West Indies into a dominating position with a breathtaking 191, Zimbabwe recovered from a poor start to reach 173 for 3 at the close of the second day
The Wisden Bulletin by John Ward at Bulawayo
13-Nov-2003
CloseZimbabwe 173 for 3 (Vermeulen 60*, Wishart 86*) trail West
Indies 481 (Lara 191, Price 5-199) by 308 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
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Brian Lara: record breaker © AFP |
In another enthralling day at Bulawayo, Brian Lara dominated the early
exchanges with a brilliant 191 and passed Sir Vivian Richards as the
leading West Indian Test runscorer along the way. But Zimbabwe, led by
Craig Wishart, fought back impressively from 31 for 3 to reach 173 for the
loss of no more wickets at the close, by which time they were 308 behind
West Indies' imposing total of 481.
Lara dominated the day right from the start, as he raced to a breathtaking
hundred. He and Ramnaresh Sarwan began with ease, picking up the singles
easily, until Lara decided enough was enough as he sped through the
nineties. Blessing Mahwire pinned him down briefly on 98, beating him
outside off stump and forcing a few hurried strokes. But it only delayed
the inevitable, and Lara soon notched his 22nd Test century off 124 balls.
He made it a deliberate policy to score his runs straighter than usual. He
produced a number of superb drives between mid-on and mid-off, including
one remarkable six off Raymond Price when he made a last-second adjustment
and removed his bottom hand from the bat. Every now and then Lara showed
he was human, his closest escape coming at 136 when he edged a ball low
between first and second slip. The records came as well. A majestic drive
through extra cover off Price took him past the 107 he needed to overtake
Richards as the top West Indian runscorer in Tests.
His partners proved more fallible, though. Sarwan scored 65 before a
bat-pad resulted in a close catch to Mark Vermeulen at silly point off
Price (351 for 4). Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unlucky when Wishart took a
brilliant diving catch at slip, and he was given out by umpire Rudi
Koertzen even though the TV replay showed that the ball only hit the pad
(389 for 5).
After Ridley Jacobs and Omari Banks fell cheaply, Lara was left with the
tail, and he decided to step up the assault. He hit Price for two
magnificent sixes off successive balls, one of them a superb stroke over
extra cover, but he was eventually out not long after lunch. Wishart had
been placed as a solitary second slip to block Lara's glide to third man,
which he tried again off Andy Blignaut only to edge a low catch (449 for
8).
The big wicket of Lara caused Zimbabwe to relax a little too much, as they
allowed the last two wickets to add a merry 32 before West Indies were all
out for 481. Price finished with 5 for 199, and might have earned a place
in the book of obscure records if his last over hadn't produced his only
maiden - how many bowlers in Test history have bowled 43 overs without a
single maiden? He bowled well with bounce and lift on a pitch starting to
crumble, and despite the obvious aim of the batsmen to hit him out of the
attack.
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Fidel Edwards © AFP |
Zimbabwe's openers again made a poor start. First Vusi Sibanda tried to
turn a straight one from Edwards to the leg side, and got a leading edge
to provide a simple return catch (5 for 1). Edwards then produced an
accidental beamer which hit Trevor Gripper on the hand as he defended his
throat. He took about five minutes to compose himself afterwards, and that
is the only excuse that can be offered for the awful stroke he played in
the next over. He tried to pull a ball from Merv Dillon that was not short
enough, and dragged it onto his stumps from outside off (10 for 2).
To bad cricket, add the bad luck that has also dogged Zimbabwe. Stuart
Carlisle was comfortable at the crease before he played back to Edwards.
The ball came off the inside edge, hit Carlisle's thigh-pad, dropped to
the ground and then freakishly bounced back onto the stumps (31 for 3).
Zimbabwe were in deep trouble, but Wishart and Vermeulen clawed them back
on track and batted throughout the evening session. Vermeulen was forced
to use a runner after edging a ball from Dillon painfully into his thigh,
a blow which restricted his strokeplay. It was determined batting against
accurate rather than threatening bowling, with Dillon the most economical
performer. Banks, in contrast, was rather rusty - but he was bowling for
the first time on the tour. He wasn't helped by Lara's numerous bowling
changes, which prevented the attack from settling down.
Wishart grew in stature and confidence, passing his usual danger area when
approaching his half-century, and he even speeded up towards the close as
he neared three figures. It was quality batting, mentally as well as
technically, and Wishart, on 86 not out, will contemplate overnight the
possibility of his first Test century against a senior team tomorrow,
having already scored one against Bangladesh.