da casino： The fabulous Barbadian and West Indies batting ‘firm’ of Gordon Greenidgeand Desmond Haynes was followed splendidly by a most promising juniorpartnership yesterday
da bwin： Don Cameron17-Dec-1999The fabulous Barbadian and West Indies batting ‘firm’ of Gordon Greenidgeand Desmond Haynes was followed splendidly by a most promising juniorpartnership yesterday.Two younger batsman from that famous cricket factory, Sherwin Campbell andAdrian Griffith, were the stars on the first day of the first Test atWestpacTrust Park.The Campbell-Griffith first-wicket stand broke the old Haynes-Greenidgeopening partnership record against New Zealand at 225, set 20 years ago,and seemed likely to overtake the all-time West Indies record of 296 setby the same two masters ten years ago against England.In the event Campbell was out 14 minutes before stumps for a brilliant andclassical 170 when the total was 276, and Griffith was still there on 103as West Indies slammed the Test door in New Zealand’s face with afirst-day score of 282 for the one wicket.Well poisedWest Indies are now poised to take control of the Test, with the pitchpromising to play easily for at least the next two days.The Campbell-Griffith stand was the magnificent attraction of the day, butit was the final result of much back-room planning which drew deep on theskill and experience of the West Indian planners.An hour before the start the pitch looked dry and firm, the green grass ofthe previous days was already beginning to brown. The West Indians’ Plan’A’ was to win the toss, play three fast bowlers and the Trinidadleg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine, and trust their judgement by battingfirst.When Brian Lara won the toss and put Plan ‘A’ into operation, StephenFleming and his team-mates probably sighed with relief. They did not likethe prospect of facing a strange and vigorous newball attack on a pitchthey could not yet trust.As the two Barbadians’ marvellous opening stand surged along, startingwith a slow movement, picking up the tempo with a barrage of boundariesimmediately after lunch and tea, Lara and his experienced planners musthave thought they were in a cricketing paradise.Following the occupy-the-crease policy demanded by the team management andfaced by accurate and varied New Zealand bowling, Campbell and Griffithstarted their long march together almost with tip-toeing timidity.They carefully extracted 23 runs from the first hour and, as New Zealandworked through five bowlers including both spinners, went to lunch at 57from 29 overs.After lunch Campbell brought out more of his dashing strokes, reached his50 from 101 balls, and the hour after lunch brought a flood of 87 runsfrom 17 overs. Then another quiet period. For while 135 runs came in thesession, the second hour brought in 38 from 18 overs.This included Campbell’s century from 177 balls – the second 50 from 62balls – and then another flurry of runs at the start of the journey towardstumps.This had Campbell racing past 150 from 235 balls, with 100 runs inboundaries.By this time Griffith was moving into stride after his early patience, andtwo cracking fours from Chris Cairns’ first over with the second ballbrought Griffith’s first Test century – 116 balls over the first 50, 145balls for the second, but one of those innings that could only be measuredin character and concentration, and not by whether the runs came slowerthan the minutes.Just when the pair promised to bat all day and bring down theGreenidge-Haynes record, Campbell made an ambitious swish at a bouncerfrom Nash.
