Uncapped left-hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul all but penciled his name in for the opening Test in Perth when he struck a high-quality hundred on day two of the four-day ‘pink-ball’ match Thursday.
The 26-year-old son of Test legend Shiv Chanderpaul carved out 119 as West Indies, replying to the Australian Prime Minister XI’s 322, reached the close at Manuka Oval on 234 for seven in their first innings.
On his first overseas tour, the left-hander faced 293 deliveries and punched 13 fours and a six – a combination of crisp off-side drives and adventurous on-side strokes – en route to his sixth first class hundred.
With regular opener John Campbell missing the series through suspension, Chanderpaul’s form could see him partner captain Kraigg Brathwaite at the top of the order for next Wednesday’s opening Test.
“It was a bit tough, but I got through the new ball up front. I tried to get a score and keep things going and try and score when I can,” Chanderpaul said afterwards.
“I didn’t get any [runs] last week [in the first tour match] so it was nice to get some runs today and get a feel, and hopefully things go well.”
But while captain Kraigg Brathwaite weighed in with 47 and wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva got 25, the remainder of the touring side’s batting faltered as 22-year-old off-spinner Todd Murphy (3-27) and new-ball seamer Joel Paris (3-31) hurt the innings with three-wicket hauls.
Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph had earlier taken the last wicket to finish with four for 65 as the hosts added 25 to their overnight 297 for nine before being dismissed. Chanderpaul then safely negotiated the new ball in a productive 94-run, first-wicket stand with Brathwaite who faced 98 deliveries and counted seven fours. Once Brathwaite chopped on to pacer Mark Steketee, West Indies declined swiftly, losing four wickets for 42 runs as Nkrumah Bonner (0), Devon Thomas (8) and Kyle Mayers (6) all perished cheaply.
However, Chanderpaul found an ally in Da Silva with whom he put on 56 for the fifth wicket to stabilise the middle order.
Dropped on 34 by wicketkeeper Josh Inglis, Chanderpaul made the most of the reprieve. He was unbeaten on 80 at tea and moved into the 90s with a slog sweep for six off left-arm spinner Ashton Agar before bringing up three figures by twice lofting the same bowler to the mid-wicket boundary off successive deliveries.
He lost Da Silva, lbw to Murphy, and Roston Chase caught at the wicket off Paris for 10, before finally falling to the day’s final ball, top edging a hook at Paris for Inglis to pouch the catch running back.
-CMC
