BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, CMC – West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and fellow opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul made hay while the sun shone and cemented their new partnership with resolute hundreds against Zimbabwe in the rain-hit first Test yesterday.
Only 38 overs were possible after play started 5-1/2 hours later than rescheduled on the second day at the Queen’s Sports Club because of wet conditions caused by adverse weather, but it was more than enough time for Brathwaite and Chanderpaul to reach their milestones.
For Brathwaite, undefeated on 116, it was his 12th Test hundred and second in three Tests, and for Chanderpaul, unbeaten on 101, it was his maiden hundred in only his third Test – and they carried the Windies to 221 without loss in their first innings at the close on another rain-shortened day.
Rain had stopped play about half-hour before tea on the first day of the match, and the players never returned to the field, wiping out the entire the final session, but Brathwaite and Chanderpaul soaked up the disruptions and have put the visitors in a favourable position.
Brathwaite needed 226 balls to reach the landmark when he late cut a delivery from left-arm spinner Wellington Maskadza past slip for a
deuce – but he has counted only seven boundaries in his innings that has occupied 246 balls.
Chanderpaul, son of former Guyana batting icon and West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, brought up the mark from 286 balls when he pulled a short ball from pacer Victor Nyauchi through square leg for a single, and has struck 10 fours and one six from 291 balls.
“I guess he is following the game, and he messeaged me (Saturday night), and he reminded me not to settle for scores of 40 or 50, but going on and trying to get big scores,” the younger Chanderpaul said when asked how his father may feel about the way he batted. “That’s what I am 
trying to do, so he must be feeling proud of me right now.
“This is the best feeling in the world, scoring a century in Test cricket. I was just trying out there to get a start again and bat as long and as deep as possible… The pitch is like some in the Caribbean, and I am feeling happy, excited, overjoyed, all the feelings that you could imagine.”
The younger Chanderpaul became the first Windies opener other than Brathwaite to score a hundred since Chris Gayle struck 101 against the same opponents eight years ago at Windsor Park in Dominica, breaking a sequence of 12 unmatched from his more illustrious partner.
It was also the first time since Gayle scored 150 and fellow left-hander Kieron Powell made 134 against New Zealand nine years ago at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua that both West Indies openers have scored a century in the same Test innings.
Also, the last time an opening pair for the Caribbean side had shared a double-hundred stand.
Chanderpaul also appeared to have solved a persistent headache for the selection panel, currently led by former Barbados captain and Windies opener Desmond Haynes, about a long-term partner for Brathwaite at the top of the order.
The situation had become more acute late last year when fellow left-hander John Campbell was slapped with a lengthy ban for an anti-doping violation, which opened the door for the selectors to try Chanderpaul in the position on the Tour of Australia.
Together, Brathwaite and Chanderpaul also set a West Indies record for the highest stand of any wicket against the Zimbabweans and joined elite company in sharing only the 10th double-century opening stand for the Caribbean side since their first ever Test 95 years ago.
“Kraigg is someone that values his wicket, so just kept speaking to me,” Chanderpaul said. “He told me, ‘don’t give it away’, ‘keep batting’, ‘fight through when the guys are bowling well and score when I can’, so that was basically it,” he said.
“A Test match is five days, so that’s lots of time, and there is no need to force anything. You just need to try to score when the opportunity presents itself, get singles, and build your innings gradually.”
With only 89 overs bowled over the first two days, effectively only a day has been lost to the adverse weather and conditions, and the Windies will need to increase the scoring tempo on the third day if they are considering pushing for victory.
With only 17 fours and one six struck by the West Indies opening pair, it has not been too tough for the Zimbabwe bowlers on the hard, easy-paced pitch, but the attack of the home team managed to string together 20 maidens, and Masakadza has been the most economical with 0-30 from 16 overs.
Play is set to start half-hour earlier than regularly scheduled at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. East Caribbean Time) over the remaining three days in an attempt to make up for the time lost over the first two days.
