Agence France Presse

Georgetown, April 2:

Wavell Hinds and Shivnarine Chanderpaul each completed maiden Test double hundreds to help West Indies grind South Africa into the dust on the second day of the first Test on Friday.

Hinds top-scored with 213 and Chanderpaul, the new West Indies captain, scored an undefeated 203 to be the foundations on which the home team piled up a challenging first innings total of 543 for five declared.

Bad light however, stopped play 15.5 overs early, after Pedro Collins sent down just two deliveries — one a no-ball — to leave South Africa on two without loss.

Hinds reached his milestone in the last half hour before the lunch interval when he guided fast bowler Andre Nel, South Africa’s most successful bowler with 3-93, through backward point for four.

Almost five and a quarter hours later, Chanderpaul brought up his landmark in front of a crowd in excess of 5,000 of his countrymen, when he whipped a delivery from Nicky Boje through mid-wicket for a boundary.

It was the first time in 47 years that two West Indies batsmen scored double hundreds in the same Test innings. The previous and only other occasion came when Garfield Sobers hit the previous world record 365 not out and the late Conrad Hunte scored 260 against Pakistan at Kingston.

Chanderpaul and Hinds took their fourth wicket partnership to a record for any team in a Test at the Bourda Oval, after West Indies continued from their bedtime total of 347 for three.

After taking West Indies to 386 for three at lunch, Hinds seemed a little unsettled by the tight bowling of the South Africans and eventually edged a drive to Mark Boucher off Charl Langeveldt. He struck 34 fours and two sixes from 297 balls in almost seven and a half hours batting.

Following Hinds’ dismissal, fellow left-hander Ryan Hinds (48) and Chanderpaul continued to grind the South Africans with resolute batting interspersed with the occasional rasping stroke for boundaries.

Chanderpaul topped his previous highest Test score of 140. Hinds and Chanderpaul took West Indies to tea at 490 for four with little fanfare. Chanderpaul batted for eight and a half hours, faced 370 balls and struck 23 fours.