Sarwan and Gayle halt South African charge

West Indies 301 and 263 for 3 (Sarwan 107*, Gayle 106*) trail South Africa 604 for 6 dec by 40 runs
Scorecard

A century apiece for Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle gave West Indies something to smile about at last, as South Africa's bowlers were made to toil on a gloomy fourth day at Centurion. By the time bad light brought about an early close with the second new ball looming, the pair had added an unbeaten 164 for the fourth wicket to carry their side to within 40 runs of second-innings parity. It might not be enough to stave off defeat tomorrow, but it is sure to be an important fillip with the England series fast approaching.

The outlook had not been too promising when Sarwan and Gayle came together shortly after lunch. Although heavy rain had wiped out all but seven overs of the morning session, West Indies still trailed by 204 runs when Shivnarine Chanderpaul allowed his frustration to get the better of him, and squirted an injudicious carve to Herschelle Gibbs at backward point off the persevering Jacques Kallis.

Kallis had been the one South African bowler to use the overcast conditions to good effect, bowling a full swinging length that at first proved impossible to take liberties against. Sarwan and Chanderpaul were watchful in their defence, happy to camp on the back foot and wait for Andre Nel or Makhaya Ntini to offer them some width. But Gayle, who had retired hurt following a painful blow in the midriff yesterday evening, was rather less demure in his approach.

Unsurprisingly, Gayle was greeted with a whistling bouncer from Kallis, but he remained in the belligerent mood that had served him so well in his first-innings 77. He smacked Kallis past midwicket before lofting over long-on for a one-bounce four, and Sarwan was emboldened by the rise in tempo. He reached his half-century with a steer to the third-man boundary off Ntini, before taking the attack to Kallis as well, as a pair of cover-drives carried him into the sixties.

When Andrew Hall was forced to limp out of the attack with a leg injury, West Indies' luck seemed to have changed. Sarwan certainly thought so, as he smacked the replacement bowler Graeme Smith for four, while Gayle laid into Nel at the other end, carting him for three fours in his next over.

Finally, after facing 202 balls, Sarwan smashed Ntini through the covers for his 14th four, to bring up his fourth Test century with a scream of triumph. He had barely added to his total when Gayle came hurtling to a hundred of his own, by hoisting Smith over deep midwicket. It was his second century of the series, and though it was scored at a rather more leisurely pace than his 78-ball blitzkrieg in Cape Town, it was no less valuable for that.

The bad light that had been threatening all day eventually closed in with half-an-hour still remaining. But for West Indies, it had been a thoroughly satisfying effort, and one that will have fuelled their confidence, both for tomorrow's play, and the forthcoming one-day series.