They get gold out of the ground in Guyana – by placing explosives on the surface,processing the broken rock into pellets, then
processing them through water to extract the precious mineral.
And after this opening Test match against South Africa in the Guyanese capital Georgetown ended in a draw, the West Indians
will feel they have panned themselves some nice glistening little nuggets.
They’ve stopped the rot – five successive Test defeats against the Proteas, followed by another five in a row against the Aussies.
True, these were all away from home, but it hardly augured well for their confidence when they took the field against the South
Africans five days ago.
Yet if anything the Windies had slightly the better of this Test, by causing a South African collapse – six wickets fell for 51 runs – in the first innings, and then batting themselves
into an unassailable position in their second innings before declaring early on the last day
on 333 for 7.
They had lost Ramnaresh Sarwan and Nixon McLean, who were dismissed in successive balls. Sarwan had appeared set for his
maiden Test century, but was run out for 91 by brilliant fielding by Gibbs. Next ball Nixon McLean was lbw to Nicky Boje.
Still, it was bright and breezy, and a timely declaration.
On a pitch that defied the pundits and got better on the last two days, the South Africans had little hope of scoring at just more
than 4 an over to reach a target in excess of 300.
Instead, they resisted well enough, with the previously out-of-form and out-of-luck
Herschelle Gibbs getting a much-needed confidence-boosting 83 not out, to guide his side
to safety on 142 for 2. The South Africans can also be pleased with the magnificent form
of the other opener Gary Kirsten (150 and 27, Man of the Match) and the aggression of
wicket-keeper Marc Boucher (52, first innings, and his 100th dismissal behind the stumps).
But better than Guyanese gold-dust for the Windies was the ability of a largely young side to turn adversity into advantage on
Days Three and Four; the good form of Chris Gayle and Sarwan with the bat; as well as a confident start as captain for the
newly-returned and controversially appointed Carl Hooper (a nice touch was that the world’s greatest Test wicket-taker
Courtney Walsh grabbed a stump and presented it to the captain as a memento for his debut).
Just one dark cloud to the silver lining: Ramnarine, their key spinner, looked out of sorts
and was perhaps nursing a shoulder injury in the second innings, and in any case should be less
effective in the second Test at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad, where the wicket should
suit the pacemen rather more.
After the match the two captains used the same cliche: “We can take a lot of positives out of this.” The West Indies had the
bigger smiles, but the South Africans, undoubtedly the world’s second-best side, must still be the favourites for the series. And
he who laughs last ...
