BRIDGETOWN, 22 April 2005 — Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul rescued West Indies from the loss of three early wickets as they reached 60 for three at lunch on the opening day of the third Test against South Africa yesterday.
The experienced left-handers, both unbeaten on 23 at the interval, dug in after South Africa fast bowlers Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini had reduced the hosts, who won the toss, to 12 for three. Nel struck with the fifth ball of the match when left-hander Chris Gayle edged an angled delivery to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for a duck.
Wavell Hinds, on one, pushed forward more decisively at a delivery from Ntini five overs later, only to steer it to Graeme Smith at first slip.
Ramnaresh Sarwan seemed to settle early, driving Ntini sweetly off the back foot through the covers for four but he fell for 10 when he cut loosely at a wide delivery from Nel and sending a looping catch to Ashwell Prince at point.
Lara played his natural attacking game but aggressive fielding by the South Africans limited him to just one boundary. Chanderpaul hit three fours.
South Africa left out all-rounder Shaun Pollock who joined the squad in Bridgetown on Monday after missing four Tests and three One-Day Internationals with an ankle injury.
West Indies included fast bowler Fidel Edwards for the injured Pedro Collins, and all-rounder Ryan Hinds for batsman Donovan Pagon. South Africa, 1-0 up in the series, made one change, bringing in batsman Boeta Dippenaar for Jacques Rudolph.
Bangladesh Leave Out Veteran Mahmud for England Tour
In Chittagong, Bangladesh yesterday omitted seasoned all-rounder Khaled Mahmud from a 16-man squad for their first ever Test tour of England starting next month.
Mahmud, who turns 34 in July, is a former captain who played the last of his 12 Tests at home against England in 2004.
But the right-arm seamer and lower order batsman has been a regular member of the one-day team. Bangladesh will play two Tests at Lord’s (May 26-30) and Durham (June 3-7) before taking part in a limited-overs tri-series also featuring world champions Australia from June 16 to July 2.
