Lara revives himself, West Indies

By Malcolm Conn

ADELAIDE, DEC. 15. For the second time inside two years the Australians have watched Brian Lara drag his credibility and the West Indies back from the brink of total decimation with a brutally elegant century.

Just like in Jamaica on Australia's last Caribbean tour, Brian Lara entered the field on the opening day of the third Test in Adelaide on Friday rightly carrying serious questions and severe criticism about his form, commitment and mental state.

And just like in Jamaica, he was able to rise above the whirlpool of controversy which almost always surrounds the enigmatic genius to leave the West Indies in its most competitive position of the series.

Lara will resume on 136 scored in four hours and 20 minutes from just 174 balls with 21 fours and a six. The West Indies is four for 274.

He intends to inflict further pain, hoping to bat for at least two sessions so the West Indies will need to bat only once, avoiding Australian spin pair of Stuart MacGill and Colin Miller on a dry and rapidly wearing pitch. They did not bowl particularly well on Friday.

The Australians know that Lara can be as good as his word. Two of his six hundreds against Australia are double centuries. From the first time this summer Jimmy Adams called correctly, much to the disappointment of Australia's stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist, and gave the West Indies best use of perfect batting conditions.

Now Australia has concerns more immediate than extending its world record run of 12 successive victories. It must bat last on a wicket which becomes increasingly difficult as balls scoot through low late in the match.

On Friday the West Indies passed many of the lowly marks which typified its sad start to the tour with innings losses in Brisbane and Perth. It was its highest score, the first time over 200, the first time it had batted long enough to encounter a second new ball, the 100 partnership between Lara and captain Jimmy Adams (49) was also a first, along with Lara's century.

Significantly, it was the seventh time Lara and Adams have combined in a three-figure stand. Their latest effort produced 183 runs in just 191 minutes. It ended shortly before stumps when Adams was caught behind driving, giving Jason Gillespie all four wickets to fall in his first Test on his home ground.

Lara was going into this match with just 74 runs in his past eight Test innings, including just 21 in four hits during this series. More failures here and the series was gone. More questions and accusations would have been asked and made.

Lara came in with the match teetering delicately at three for 86 after Daren Ganga (23), Sherwin Campbell (18) and Wavell Hinds (27) all wasting starts.

Lara's began sedately, going to lunch after 20 minutes on just four. He took another 17 minutes to score his first boundary, a flick through mid-wicket off his nemesis Glenn McGrath, but was still in single figures.

Then, in Gillespie's 16th over, Lara exploded. A mistimed pull in the air to mid-wicket for two was a tame start to a vicious onslaught which changed the course of the match. Three times in successive balls he crashed deliveries past cover and point off the front and back foot to the boundary.

Then in McGrath's 16th over he repeated the feat even more expansively with a pull, a square drive and a glide behind point. His next boundary, an exquisite cover drive which flew between Damien Martyn at cover and Miller at mid-off before they had moved, brought up 50 from 90 balls with 10 fours. The next 50 came at a run a ball with another six fours and a six.

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