WI v SA: Second Test Report Card
Within an hour on the first day, South Africa snatched the advantage and never let up. After the 17/4 top order debacle, the West Indies were never in this match. In the field, shoulders sagged and heads drooped and a big defeat was inevitable.
There were some morale-boosting performances in between -- Drakes' batting, Jacobs' reliability and the second innings centuries from Sarwan and Chanderpaul but, all in all, this was a nightmare from the very beginning. Here's my report card (tough, but fair):
WAVELL HINDS
After four innings in this series, Hinds is averaging 5.25 -- and it shows. The left-hander has lost form and confidence at the worst possible time. In both innings, his lack of foot movement led to his downfall -- caught behind leaving one alone outside off in the first and bowled under his bat in the second. With opening partner Chris Gayle still nursing a hamstring pull, Hinds has to pull his weight with the bat. A losing West Indies side cannot tolerate his consistent failures.
GRADE: F
DAREN GANGA
Like Hinds, Ganga badly needs a big score to lend some credibility to the top of the order. Too often, the right-hander looks to be in complete control, only to give it away. In the first innings at Durban, Ganga succumbed to the early life in the wicket, edging an away swinger from Ntini to slip. To be fair, he was the victim of a poor lbw decision in the second (the ball took an inside edge into his pad) but, at the highest level, you make your own luck. Ganga has been blessed with superior batting technique but, unless he can translate that into consistent high scores, he'll always be considered a fringe player battling for a place in the side.
GRADE: F
RAMNARESH SARWAN
Special athletes have a way of raising the level of their game as the situation demands. If ever there was doubt that Sarwan is a special cricketer, the right-handed stylist brushed aside poor form -- and a nasty blow to the head -- to battle his way to a second innings century. It wasn't the prettiest and there were signs of rust in his shot-selection but, throughout, Sarwan was able to lift his game at a crucial time for the West Indies. Sarwan loses points for his first innings failure -- caught in the slips pushing at one from Pollock -- but the 23-year-old vice-captain again proved his big-game temperament.
GRADE: B
BRIAN LARA
In his 100th Test, Brian Lara badly wanted to stamp his class on this game. But the match was essentially lost within the first hour on the first morning when South Africa scythed through the top order, even with the rearguard fightback led by Lara's first innings 72. In the second, he went into a defensive shell and was bogged down badly when an aggressive fightback might have been the better approach. He laboured over 71 balls for 11 runs before succumbing to the pressure. On many occasions on this tour, Lara's captaincy has been open to second-guessing and this Test was no different. In the field, his bowlers looked lost and leaderless at times and he loses marks for his role in selecting this ridiculous team -- which included a second string wicket-keeper playing as a specialist batsman ahead of, well, a specialist batsman.
GRADE: C
SHIV CHANDERPAUL
Perhaps Chanderpaul should always play injured. Like in Antigua earlier this year when he took a century off the Australians with a broken finger, Chanderpaul shrugged off a thigh strain to record his second overseas hundred. It was quite possibly the only instance that a batsman scored a century while batting with a runner throughout and the innings served as yet another reminder of the left-hander's value at the bottom of the order. Like the others who failed to negotiate the early terrors of the pitch, Chanderpaul loses marks for first innings duck.
GRADE: B
CARLTON BAUGH
It's not possible to be honest about grading Baugh without being blunt and harsh. Given an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Jeff Dujon and crack into the big side as a specialist batsman, Baugh batted with a braincramp in both innings and wasted his chance. In the first innings, with the team in deep trouble, he came out swinging like a baseball player. There's a school of thought that his slogging was a panacea for the pressure but what explains his second innings mediocrity? At times, the little right-hander was swinging at balls a foot away from his bat and with his head in the air. This was an experiment gone wrong and Baugh shares equal responsibility for its failure.
GRADE: F
RIDLEY JACOBS
With the bat and with the gloves, Jacobs was his faithful, reliable self. When the wheels were falling off in the first innings, Jacobs shared a 98-run partnership with Lara to steady the ship and helped himself to a counter-attacking 58 from 69 balls. It was classic Jacobs, rescuing the side in his own dogged way. With the gloves, his contribution bordered on the spectacular. He did not concede a bye in the 658 runs scored by South Africa and was solid throughout. Based on Baugh's performance, it looks like we'll be relying on Jacobs for a few more years.
GRADE: B+
VASBERT DRAKES
The veteran Barbadian had a forgettable match in the field but this report card can't be too harsh on a bowler who saved the team's blushes with the bat. It was Drakes' professionalism and dogged determination that pushed the first innings score past the 200 mark -- with a career-high 67 and a 70-run partnership with Adam Sanford. With the ball, his 30 overs were uneventful even if he ended with 2-113 and his dropped catches contributed to the malaise in the field.
GRADE: C
MERV DILLON
Once considered the veteran leader of the bowling attack, Dillon's inconsistencies from game to game has been disappointing. In this Test, he was nothing more than a medium pace trundler who never looked like he would make an impact. When South Africa's batsmen were running away with the game, Dillon was a willing participant in the carnage. At times he looked tired, lost and disinterested.
GRADE: F
ADAM SANFORD
The Dominica-born Sanford arrived in South Africa as a replacement for Omari Banks and immediately answered the bell with a five-wicket haul in the preceding tour game. From there, everything went downhill, even if Sanford's tailend batting was a pleasant eye-opener. He was rusty even if he did appear to be working hard throughout but, at no time did he look like he could make a dent in South Africa's batting line-up. And, to make matters worse, he dropped a sitter on the boundary that looked like a bad scene from a club match. However, let's not forget his batting (in both innings).
GRADE: D
FIDEL EDWARDS
Edwards has hit a rookie wall. He looks tired and jaded and badly needs a mentor on tour. Where is the bowling coach and what's he doing to protect the youngster? Too often in this match, Edwards was guilty of wayward bowling and, when things didn't go his way, he drooped his shoulders and bowed his head. He will get a tough grade here but I'm not about to dump on a kid in only his fifth Test match. Edwards needs a rest more than the West Indies need his enthusiastic bowling.
GRADE: F