West Indies lost the series 3-0 after losing the opening Test at Johannesburg by 189 runs, the second at Durban by an innings and 65 runs and the last Test at Centurion by 10 wickets. The third Test at Cape Town was drawn.

Lara scored 531 runs from eight innings at an average of 66.37 posting two centuries and two half-centuries in the process. His highest score was 202 in the first Test that was his first hundred against the South Africans.

Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan with 392 runs (avg. 49.00), Chris Gayle with 366 (avg. 61.00), and Shivnarine Chanderpaul with 286 (avg. 47.66) were the only other batsmen to score more than 200 runs in the series.

Edwards delivered 134.4 overs (only Vasbert Drakes with 148 bowled more) in four Tests and reaped a measly eight wickets at 81.00 apiece. His three for 132 at Cape Town were his best figures.

Adam Sanford, a replacement for the injured Jerome Taylor, who returned to the Caribbean early from the tour, took seven wickets at 48.57 each, Sarwan with his part-time leg-spin captured six at 44.33 apiece, while Drakes and Wavell Hinds took five wickets each at 91.80 and 43.00 (the best West Indies bowling average) respectively.

Undoubtedly, Jacques Kallis, who scored centuries in each of the four Tests, was the most successful South African batsman and leading batsman overall in the series. He scored 712 runs at an average of 178.00.

Opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs had the second highest South African and series aggregate of 583 runs (avg. 116.60), South Africa captain Graeme Smith totalled 418 (avg. 69.66) and fellow left-hander Jacques Rudolph hit 220 (avg. 36.66) as the only batsmen over 200 runs.

As expected, South Africa’s three frontline fast bowlers shared the bulk of the wickets. Makhaya Ntini, named man-of-the-series, led the way with 29 wickets at 21.37 apiece, Andre Nel captured 22 at 23.18 each, and Shaun Pollock bagged 16 at 29.00 each.

The two sides now contest a best-of-five One-day International Series that opens on Sunday at Cape Town with a day/night encounter.

Matches at Port Elizabeth (January 28), Durban (January 30), Centurion (February 1) and Johannesburg (February 4) follow.

AVERAGES

WEST INDIES

Batting Mat I NO Runs HS Avg

B.Lara 4 8 0 531 202 66.37

C.Gayle 3 6 0 366 116 61.00

D.Smith 2 4 1 164 105* 54.66

R.Sarwan 4 8 0 392 119 49.00

S.Chanderpaul 3 6 0 286 109 47.66

D.Mohammed 1 1 0 36 36 36.00

V.Drakes 4 7 0 157 67 22.42

R.Jacobs 4 8 1 145 58 20.71

A.Sanford 2 3 1 33 18* 16.50

D.Ganga 4 8 0 122 60 15.25

M.Dillon 3 6 0 85 30 14.16

C.Baugh 1 2 0 23 21 11.50

W.Hinds 3 6 0 59 25 9.83

C.Collymore 2 4 2 18 13* 9.00

F.Edwards 4 7 4 16 10 5.33

Bowling Mat O M R W Avg

W.Hinds 3 48.4 7 215 5 43.00

R.Sarwan 4 73 3 266 6 44.33

D.Smith 2 15 1 46 1 46.00

D.Mohammed 1 39 5 142 3 47.33

A.Sanford 2 83.2 9 340 7 48.57

C.Collymore 2 61 10 228 4 57.00

F.Edwards 4 134.4 9 648 8 81.00

M.Dillon 3 112 17 359 4 89.75

V.Drakes 4 148 22 459 5 91.80

D.Ganga 4 20 1 72 0 -

C.Gayle 3 26 3 112 0 -

SOUTH AFRICA

Batting Mat I NO Runs HS Avg

J.Kallis 4 6 2 712 177 178.00

H.Gibbs 4 7 2 583 192 116.60

G.Smith 4 7 1 418 139 69.66

G.Kirsten 3 4 1 173 137 57.66

M.Boucher 4 5 1 192 122* 48.00

M.van Jaarsvel 1 2 0 88 73 44.00

R.Peterson 1 2 1 43 25 43.00

N.McKenzie 4 5 1 165 76 41.25

J.Rudolph 4 6 0 220 101 36.66

A.Hall 2 1 0 32 32 32.00

S.Pollock 4 5 2 88 38* 29.33

M.Ntini 4 3 1 40 22* 20.00

A.Nel 4 2 0 4 4 2.00

P.Adams 1 1 0 0 0 0.00

Bowling Mat O M R W Avg

M.Ntini 4 186.5 45 620 29 21.37

A.Nel 4 159.4 42 510 22 23.18

S.Pollock 4 181.2 50 464 16 29.00

J.Kallis 4 106 28 321 5 64.20

A.Hall 2 34.2 5 140 1 140.00

J.Rudolph 4 34 4 141 1 141.00

G.Kirsten 3 2 1 1 0 -

G.Smith 4 15.4 2 48 0 -

R.Peterson 1 16 2 94 0 -