Lara heartened despite defeat by South Africa in first Test

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP): West Indian captain Brian Lara said he was heartened by his team's performance despite a 189-run defeat on the fifth day of the first Test against South Africa on Tuesday.

South African opening bowlers Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini took four wickets each as the West Indies were bowled out for 188 in mid-afternoon having been set 378 to win.

"West Indies teams I have played for in the past, especially over the past five or six years have normally crumbled way before the last day," said Lara.

"This is a lot better. We are maturing and playing a lot better as a team. We can take a lot of confidence from this. We know exactly what the South Africans are coming with and we head to (the second Test in) Durban with a lot to work on."

He said he did not believe his current team would suffer the fate suffered by the side he led to South Africa in 1998/99 when they were beaten in all five Tests. 

"We can only improve on this performance. Five years ago we were heading downhill even before the first Test."

Lara said the toss had played a crucial role on a pitch that deteriorated under a baking sun. 

"It was really difficult. The toss played a very big role. It was unfortunate we lost the toss. If the shoe had been on the other foot, maybe we would have seen a different result."

For the third match in a row the West Indies finished without 11 fit players.

Opening batsman Chris Gayle, who had also been due to be the team's main spin bowler, suffered a torn hamstring while fielding on the first day and could not field again. 

Instead of opening the batting, he batted at number nine in the first innings and number eight in the second.

South African captain Graeme Smith disagreed with Lara about the standard of the pitch. 

"I thought it was a good Test wicket. It obviously cracked up a bit towards the end which made batting more difficult but with the amount of heat around it was going to be hard to keep it together for five days."

The South African captain preferred to dwell on what he described as "a fantastic team performance".

Smith said South Africa's powerful batting on the first day, when they hammered 368 runs for three wickets, had set up the match for his team.

Man of the match Makhaya Ntini, who had match figures of nine for 147, said he had started to think about getting his second ten-wicket haul of the year. 

"I was counting every ball," he said of Shaun Pollock's final over of the match. Pollock claimed the last wicket with the last delivery. 

The second Test starts in Durban on December 26.

Final scoreboard on the fifth and final day of the first Test:

South Africa
First innings: 561
Second innings: 226-6 dec
West Indies
First innings: 410
Second innings (overnight 31-3)
W Hinds b Ntini 0
D Ganga lbw b Ntini 10
V Drakes b Ntini 6
R Sarwan lbw b Pollock 8
B Lara b Pollock 5
S Chanderpaul c Nel b Pollock 74
R Jacobs b Nel 25
C Gayle c Boucher b Nel 26
M Dillon b Ntini 7
C Collymore lbw b Pollock 0
F Edwards not out 0
Extras (b10, lb6, nb11) 27
Total (51 overs) 188

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-18, 3-25, 4-41, 5-43, 6-141, 7-168, 8-176, 9-188
Bowling
Pollock 17-6-31-4 (8nb), Ntini 14-4-53-4 (2nb), Nel 13-3-49-2 (1nb), Kallis 4-0-21-0, Peterson 3-0-18-0

Result: South Africa won by 189 runs
Man of the match: Makhaya Ntini
Series: South Africa lead 1-0
Umpires: Simon Taufel and Darrell Hair (both Australia)
Television umpire: Ian Howell (RSA)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

Remaining matches:
Durban, December 26-30; Cape Town, January 2-6; Centurion, January 16-20 

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