Left-handers Wavell Hinds and Shivnarine Chanderpaul each completed maiden Test double hundreds to help West Indies grind South Africa into the dust on the second day of the first Test on Friday. Hinds hit the top score of 213 and Chanderpaul, the new West Indies captain, scored an undefeated 203 to be the foundations on which the home team piled up a challenging first innings total of 543 for five declared.
Bad light however, stopped play 15.5 overs early, after Pedro Collins sent down just two deliveries - one a no-ball - to leave South Africa on two without loss and eyeing a following-on target of 343.
Hinds reached his milestone in the last half hour before the lunch interval when he guided fast bowler Andre Nel, South Africa's most successful bowler with three wickets for 93 runs from 33 overs, through backward point for four.
Almost five and a quarter hours later, Chanderpaul brought up his landmark to a cacophony of noise in front of a crowd in excess of 5,000 of his countrymen, when he whipped a delivery from Nicky Boje through mid-wicket for a boundary.
It was the first time in 47 years that two West Indies batsmen scored double hundreds in the same Test innings. The previous and only other occasion came when Garfield Sobers hit the previous world record 365 not out and the late Conrad Hunte scored 260 against Pakistan at Kingston. A damp outfield caused by overnight rain delayed the start of play by an hour, but did nothing to water down the appetites of Hinds and Chanderpaul for runs.
Chanderpaul and Hinds took their fourth wicket partnership to a record for any team in a Test at the Bourda Oval, after West Indies continued from their bedtime total of 347 for three.
Fortune seemed to smile on Hinds a second time just prior to the interval. Shortly after he reached his milestone, he gained the benefit of the doubt for a confident lbw appeal off Nel.
After taking West Indies to 386 for three at lunch, Hinds seemed a little unsettled by the tight bowling of the South Africans and eventually edged a drive to keeper Mark Boucher off Charl Langeveldt. He struck 34 fours and two sixes from 297 balls in almost seven and a half hours batting.
Following Hinds' dismissal, fellow left-hander Ryan Hinds and Chanderpaul continued to grind the South Africans with resolute batting interspersed with the occasional rasping stroke for boundaries.
Chanderpaul, who had been dropped on 60 and 85 the previous day, eventually cleared his previous highest Test score of 140 and was clearly eyeing a double hundred of his own in his first match in charge on his home ground.
Ryan Hinds battled through a nervous start and began to flourish with a couple of meaty strokes. On 16, he was fortunate that Jacques Kallis muffed a chance at slip when he edged Nicky Boje.
Hinds and Chanderpaul took West Indies to tea at 490 for four with little fanfare and seemed bent on marauding the South Africa attack after the break.
Boje made the breakthrough in the fifth over after tea when Hinds drove loosely outside the off-stump and was caught at slip for 48. He hit five fours from 121 balls in two and a half hours.
After his dismissal, all attention switched to Chanderpaul and he did not disappoint the crowd that also included the Guyana President Bharat Jagdeo, who like Chanderpaul, also hails from the tiny fishing community of Unity about 25 miles east of Georgetown.
Chanderpaul batted for a marathon eight and a half hours, faced 370 balls and struck 23 fours.
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SCOREBOARD
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WEST INDIES (1st Innings - overnight 347 for three):
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W.Hinds c wkpr Boucher b Langeveldt 213
D.Smith c wkpr Boucher b Nel 11
D.Ganga c wkpr Boucher b Nel 0
D.Pagon c Kallis b Nel 35
S.Chanderpaul not out 203
R.Hinds c Kallis b Boje 48
EXTRAS: (LB-8, W-2, NB-8) 18
TOTAL: (for 5 wkts dec) 543
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DID NOT BAT: C.Browne, D.Powell, P.Collins, R.King
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-24, 2-24, 3-106, 4-390, 5-506
BOWLING: Ntini 23-5-98-0 (nb4); Nel 33-8-93-3 (nb1); Langeveldt 27-5-65-1 (nb2, w1); Hall 16-4-53-0 (nb1); Kallis 14-3-70-0 (w1); Boje 29.1-2-106-1; *Smith 10-0-50-0
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SOUTH AFRICA (1st innings):
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G.Smith not out 1
A.de Villiers not out 0
EXTRAS: (NB-1) 1
TOTAL: (without loss) 2
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