BIRMINGHAM, CMC - Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan counter-attacked brilliantly throughout a sunlit evening to salvage some pride for the West Indies after almost all their bowlers’ reputations were left in tatters in the wake of a withering assault by England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff on the second day of the npower Second Test, yesterday.
A capacity Edgbaston crowd feasted on sumptuous strokeplay from almost first ball to last with Flintoff smashing seven sixes in reaching 167 and lifting the hosts to 566 for nine declared 40 minutes before tea.
Rocked back by the loss of both openers with just 12 runs on the board before the interval, Lara and Sarwan took the attack to the English bowlers in an unbroken 172-run third-wicket partnership that sets the stage for a potentially decisive third day with the visitors resuming at 184 for two.
By the time the menu of strokeplay had been properly digested, 437 runs had come off 88 overs in the day.
Lara’s unbeaten 74 has made him the first player this year to reach 1 000 Test runs and he is just 41 runs away from an even more significant milestone, becoming just the fourth player ever and first West Indian to reach 10 000 runs in Test cricket.
Most attention in the final session was inevitably focused on the master left-hander on the ground where he played for Warwickshire for two contrasting seasons in 1994 and 1998, but Sarwan was not content to just play second fiddle, matching his captain stroke-for-stroke in contributing an unbeaten 87 to a stand that brought smiles back to previously sad Caribbean faces in the stands.
Their gloom was most apparent, and understandable, as Flintoff monopolised the limelight in the first half of a run-filled day, dominating a 170-run sixth-wicket partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman Geraint Jones, who nevertheless played his part in the day’s entertainment with an enterprising innings of 74 before being caught behind off Corey Collymore.
The butt of abuse from the public and media for his pudgy, overweight appearance when the West Indies last toured England four years earlier, Flintoff’s transformation into a powerful all-conquering hero has fuelled comparisons with the country’s greatest all-rounder, Ian Botham.
In mercilessly bludgeoning a generally inept West Indies bowling attack on the way to his fourth Test hundred and highest first-class score, the 26-year-old Lancastrian produced an innings to compare with any of Botham’s more spectacular efforts.
His task was made considerably easier by an almost unending supply of half-volleys and long-hops from opposing bowlers, but their mediocrity could take nothing away from an innings that lasted 274 minutes, 191 deliveries and was highlighted by seven sixes and 17 fours.
His awesome combination of power and timing produced some incredible shots, none more impressive than a massive blow off Jermaine Lawson over long-on that almost injured his parents in the stands.
Having brought up his second hundred in three Tests against the West Indies in a pre-lunch period that saw 140 runs being plundered, Flintoff stepped up a gear in the afternoon, launching off-spinner Omari Banks for three sixes in one over.
He seemed destined for a double-century before being deceived by a slower delivery from Dwayne Bravo to be trapped lbw.
The Trinidadian all-rounder’s status as a quality medium-fast bowler was enhanced by his effort amid the carnage all around him, having earlier removed Ashley Giles, who hit a low full toss to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at midwicket.
He finished with the impressive figures of four for 76 off 24 overs and certainly expected to complete a five-wicket innings haul in just his second Test with the last-wicket pair of Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison at the crease.
But as if to emphasise how ordinary these West Indies bowlers are in the main, they helped themselves to an unbroken 41-run stand, Harmison in particular toying with his opponents in reverse-sweeping Banks for four and then smashing two fours and a six off successive deliveries off the hapless Lawson on the way to 31 not out, his highest Test score.
In racing off the field when Michael Vaughan made the declaration, the pair showed their eagerness to get after the West Indies top order with the new ball.
That enthusiasm was justified as Devon Smith got a leading edge to the fourth delivery of the innings from Hoggard and Giles leaped high at gully to pull down the catch.
The Yorkshire seamer struck again in his second over, clipping Chris Gayle’s leg-stump as the Jamaican walked too far across his wicket to be dismissed cheaply for the first time in the series.
With almost 16 000 voices in boisterous celebration, England seemed set to sweep through the top half of the West Indian batting, but they did not count on Sarwan’s panache and Lara’s determination.
Refusing to be cowed by the state of the match, the vice-captain took the frustration of two cheap dismissals at Lord’s out on the bowlers in ideal batting conditions.
Driving fluently and cutting with precision, he raced to his 21st half-century in Tests with ten fours off 78 deliveries.
“Brian (Lara) came in and he said to me that I should just enjoy my game,” Sarwan said.
Lara was much more watchful at the start of his innings, but took particular delight in hammering Harmison, the team’s nemesis in the Caribbean earlier this year, for boundaries through the off-side.
His fifty, his 45th in 110 Tests, came off just 55 balls with seven fours.
If he continues in this mood on the third morning, another historic achievement will be his.
But in the more important context of the team and the state of the match and the series, Lara and Sarwan must be prepared for even longer occupation of the crease to ensure that the West Indies’ first hurdle of 367 to avoid the follow-on is rendered nothing more than a formality.
ENGLAND first innings (o/n 313-5)
M.Trescothick c Lara b Bravo 105
A.Strauss c wkp. Jacobs b Lawson 24
R.Key c Lara b Collins 29
M.Vaughan c & b Bravo 12
G.Thorpe c wkp. Jacobs b Collymore 61
A.Flintoff lbw b Bravo 167
G.Jones c wkp. Jacobs b Collymore 74
A.Giles c Chanderpaul b Bravo 24
M.Hoggard not out 15
J.Anderson b Banks 2
S.Harmison not out 31
Extras: (lb-6, w-1, nb-15) 22
Total: (for 9 wkts declared - 134 overs) 566
Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-125, 3-150, 4-210, 5-262, 6-432, 7-478, 8-522, 9-525