Bourda, Guyana – Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Nixon McLean are twoleft-handers of utterly different physiques, methods and battingability

08-May-2000Bourda, Guyana – Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Nixon McLean are twoleft-handers of utterly different physiques, methods and battingability.They shared one common purpose on the third day of the first Testyesterday – and a record seventh-wicket partnership that haltedPakistan?s match-winning advance.Their dogged, contrasting and timely defiance resisted bowling asvaried and potent as any in the contemporary game for over two hoursand yielded 74 runs, more than any West Indian seventh wicket in Testsagainst Pakistan.It may not have prevented the prospect of a daunting last day on aworn pitch for the West Indies but, allied to the return of Guyana’smore familiar weather that limited play to 44 overs between a latestart and an early finish, it has appreciably diminished the degree ofdifficulty.When fading light ended the tense contest with as many as 26 oversstill scheduled, the West Indies were 222 for seven, behind by 66 withtwo days remaining, each to be extended by an hour to compensate forlost time.Significantly, Chanderpaul was unbeaten with 46 when the light fadedsufficiently behind a heavy cloud cover for play to be called off at4:45 p.m.His presence was essential once he became the last of the main batsmenafter his captain Jimmy Adams edged the day’s fifth ball, from MushtaqAhmed, low to first slip and two more wickets fell quickly andcheaply.Half-hour later, Chris Gayle heaved a spiralling catch to mid-on, alsooff the mesmerising Mushtaq off whom he had stroked a couple ofperfect off-drives.When Ridley Jacobs sought a single on Chanderpaul’s cut to third manoff Mushtaq, found no response from his partner and was hopelessly runout at the bowler’s end, the West Indies were 139 for six, 149 inarrears and in familiar collapse mode.Fifty minutes into play that was delayed until 20 minutes after lunchby heavy overnight and morning rain, McLean, the tall, massive fastbowler with the build of Lennox Lewis, joined Chanderpaul, hisdiminutive, lightweight colleague not much bigger than PatrickHusbands.On the ground where he made his Test debut as a 19-year-old six yearsago and where he plays his club cricket, Chanderpaul batted throughoutwith the steady concentration and level-headed assurance that hasearned him a Test average of 40.Bothered by physical, and no doubt mental, fatigue, Chanderpaul hadtaken a month off during the One-Day Internationals. This was animportant return and he looked his old self.He carefully converted the nine he had at the start to 46, offering nochance and only occasional encouragement to Pakistani bowling that hastried everything in the four hours, ten minutes he has spent at thecrease.He was the only one who countered Mushtaq’s dangerous flight andeach-way turn with complete conviction. If only modern West Indianbatsmen could emulate his nimble footwork they would not find spinbowling so much of a mystery.McLean’s reputation as a batsman, such as it is, is based onfree-swinging power hitting.Reflecting the new spirit that has typified the West Indies effort allseason, he subdued his natural instincts in compiling his highest Testscore, 46, keeping Chanderpaul company for ten minutes over two hoursand actually outscoring him by two to one.Understandably, he did not handle everything with Chanderpaul’saplomb.He found the late swing of Wasim Akram, Abdur Razzaq and Waqar Younis,who shared duties at the northern end, as bothersome as Mushtaq?sgoogly.But he bided his time through 23 scoreless balls at one stage and onlyventured one tail-ender’s swipe.Even so, he thumped nine fours – to Chanderpaul’s three. There werethree off successive balls from Mushtaq, clean and hard throughmid-off, fitting of any left-hander – yes, even you know who.It required the second new ball to dislodge him as he snicked WaqarYounis? first delivery – the first pace for the day from the RegentStreet end – to first slip.Twenty minutes later, the clouds gathered, the light faded, play wasabandoned and the West Indies gained more valuable time.