West Indies captain Brian Lara sweeping on his way to making a brilliant 119, his 26th Test hundred.

by HAYDN GILL in Jamaica

AT SABINA PARK, Kingston – The shots flowed with precise perfection here yesterday and behind the guns were the general, the undisputed leader, and his trusted colonel and capable successor.

They belligerently battered, bruised their tormented, their terrorised opponents.

Brian Lara, his second reign as West Indies captain on the line following his dramatic threat to step down if his men failed to win this match, and Ramnaresh Sarwan, his likely successor if he carried through with his promise, fashioned quality centuries on the second day of the final Cable & Wireless Test against Bangladesh.

Lara’s statement in no way acted as a motivation for his sublime batting.

“I’m always motivated. We are playing at home against a team which has lost the majority of their matches. If we are moving forward, we should be able to show our heights above a team such as Bangladesh,” he said.

“With five full days and the team we have presently, we should overcome Bangladesh. It would be an aberration if it were otherwise.

“We’ve got to move forward. It’s just a statement hoping that the guys would get the motivation, not just myself, but everyone to get that motivation to go out there and do the job.”

Lara’s marvellous 119 off 147 balls was one of his fastest hundreds and his 26th in Tests, joining level with the great Sir Garry Sobers with the most three-digit innings among West Indians.

“It’s great to join Sir Garry. The older you get and the more Test matches you play, the more records are going to be in front of you, but it’s a great honour to be among guys like Sir Garry and Sir Vivian,” Lara said.

“I’m just happy to have longevity in my career. It’s been a great ride so far and hopefully it has a lot more good things to come.”

Sarwan’s unbeaten 106 off 186 balls was worth no less in value, and it was his fifth at this level and second against Bangladesh.

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