Albie Morkel smashed a career-best 132 and Morne, on his first-class debut, finished unbeaten on 44.

Easterns were bowled out for 313 and at the close West Indies were 27 without loss, a lead of 48.

Albie Morkel came to the crease with Easterns in trouble at 81 for six but started rebuilding the innings with fellow tail-enders Geoffrey Toyana and Sean O'Connor who both made 22.

West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan used nine bowlers in all but Albie Morkel quickly had their measure.

By the time he was ninth out, getting a faint edge through to wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh off Ravi Rampaul, he had faced 183 balls in nearly four hours, stroking 17 fours and two sixes.

His brother Morne also looked comfortable despite having taken a hiding from the West Indies batsmen on day one when his five overs cost 54 runs and included 17 no-balls and a wide.

Rampaul's figures made the best reading of all the West Indian bowling, the youngster finishing with four for 63.

In an unusual development, coach Gus Logie made a number of short appearances as a fielder for injury-hit West Indies as several squad members were given a break from fielding.

WEST INDIES first innings 334

EASTERNS first innings (o/n 30-2)

A.Seymore c Baugh b Collymore 34

D.Jennings c sub. (Lara) b Sanford 3

G.Flusk b Sanford 4

Z.de Bruyn c Baugh b Rampaul 18

D.Cullinan c and b Rampaul 10

P.de Bruyn c Chanderpaul b Rampaul 0

G.Toyana c Jacobs b Mohammed 22

A.Morkel c Baugh b Rampaul 132

S.O'Connor c Chanderpaul b Sarwan 22

M.Morkel not out 44

J.Malao lbw b Drakes 2

Extras: (b-9, lb-8, w-2, nb-3) 22

Total: (all out, 88.4 overs) 313

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-15, 3-59, 4-69, 5-69, 6-81, 7-137, 8-169, 9-310.

Bowling: Sanford 20-4-78-2 (w-1), Rampaul 20-3-63-4 (nb-2, w-1), Collymore 11-2-36-1, Mohammed 21-4-74-1, Gayle 6-3-10-0, Sarwan 3-1-3-1, Chanderpaul 1-0-2-0, Ganga 4-0-19-0, Drakes 2.4-0-11-1 (nb-1).

WEST INDIES second innings

C.Gayle not out 20

D.Ganga not out 7

Total: (12 overs) 27

Bowling (to date): A.Morkel 6-1-20-0, Z.de Bruyn 3-0-5-0, J.Malao 3-2-2-0.