(Reuters) – Centuries from stalwarts Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul highlighted a festival of batting today as West Indies built up a 206-run lead over Zimbabwe on the second day of the second and final test in Dominica.
The hosts reached 381 for eight at the close with Chanderpaul top scoring on 108 after Gayle had earlier made 101.
West Indies are well placed in their bid for a sixth successive test win – not achieved since 1988 – after Zimbabwe were bowled out on the opening day for 175.
There might have been three centurions in a single day at Windsor Park in Roseau but Denesh Ramdin fell 14 runs short, trapped leg before by Graeme Cremer to a ball that skidded onto him.
He and Chanderpaul put together a 173-run partnership for the fifth wicket that ensured a day of toil for the inexperienced Zimbabwe bowlers, who stemmed the flow with four wickets in the final session.
The 38-year-old Chanderpaul also moved past Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka into eighth place on the list of all time test run scorers, his 28th hundred taking his tally to 10,830 runs in 148 matches.
He offered just two sharp chances in an innings of studied concentration that lasted some six hours and 284 balls before being caught by Sean Williams off spinner Prosper Utseya.
Gayle was spectacularly caught in the deep by a diving Kyle Jarvis playing one swashbuckling shot too many after plundering three sixes off four balls to get to his ton.
The opener went from 61 overnight to reach his 15th test century before lunch.
West Indies started the day on 114 for two but saw Marlon Samuels (26) bowled by the first ball of the day — a full effort from Tendai Chatara that swung late.
The wickets of Ramdin (86) and captain Darren Sammy (9) in the last session were the first of the series for Cremer after being heavily punished in the first test in Barbados last week. Utseya finished the day with 3-60, his first test wickets.
West Indies won the first match of the series by nine wickets.