Barbados hit back on Day 1

The first day of cricket at the island’s newest first-class venue wasone in which both Barbados and South Africa ‘A’will claim some degreeof satisfaction.Having only arrived in the Caribbean four days earlier, the visitorsadapted well to the conditions and were making fine progress up untilthe evening session at the lovely setting of the Windward Club groundin Lucas Street. St. Philip.A new-look Barbados team, featuring seven debutants, might have beenslightly worried when South Africa ‘A’reached 213 for four inside thefinal hour. But, as so often happens in cricket, one unlikelydismissal changed the course of the match.Dale Benkenstein, no stranger to Barbados as he once served a stintwith Wanderers, had just completed a solid half-century and was wellset when he was prised out by an outstanding piece of fielding byShirley Clarke.The South Africa ‘A’captain, whose polished 57 was made with hardlyany bother from 141 balls in three hours’ batting, was run out at thebowler’s end by a direct throw from Clarke at mid-on.The dismissal ended a fifth-wicket partnership of 67 betweenBenkenstein and Ashwell Prince, who ended the day unbeaten on 57, andlaunched a Barbados fightback.On the whole, the hosts were able to restrict the scoring after teawhen 89 runs were scored in comparison to the 125 that came in thesecond session.The revival was instigated by fast bowler Hattian Graham, whoseperformance up to then was somewhat indifferent.He claimed the second wicket of the day with a fine delivery that tookthe edge of left-handed teenager Graeme Smith’s bat for a catch to the’keeper.During the pre-tea session, Graham was off line on occasions, but hedid well to hit back with a double strike in the dying stages.He won a leg before verdict against the tall right-hander Justin Kemp,but there was no doubt about the dismissal of Robin Peterson, who wasembarrassed when he offered no stroke and had his stumps disturbed.It meant that three wickets had gone by for the addition of 16 runsand the close of play total of 240 for seven was one which Barbadoswould feel reasonably happy with after they opted to field first onwinning the toss in overcast conditions.It was a relief to the fair-size crowd that as many as 77 overs weredelivered during the day.The dark clouds that hovered to the east of the ground and a lightdrizzle were enough to delay the start by an hour-and-a-quarter.The sun, however, made its presence felt for most of the day and thebatting of the South Africans was impressive against a bowling attackthat appeared to lack depth.There were many who felt that Ryan Hinds, a specialist batsman anddecent part-time left-arm spinner, should not have been given the roleof fourth-choice bowler.Both he and Shirley Clarke, who trundles off-breaks, were required tobowl as many as 30 overs between them. Mind you, they did so fairlytidily, and Hinds struck a blow with his third ball by removing thedengerous opener Doug Watson.The 26-year-old Watson, who averaged nearly 50 in the 1999-2000 SouthAfrican first-class season, cracked seven boundaries in making 30before Hinds deceived him in flight and bowled him an hour afterlunch.By then, Justin Ontong had already reeled a few exciting front-footstrokes and continued to play with authority until he gifted his hand15 minutes before tea.The 20-year-old arrived at his half-century at a run-a-ball before hewas bowled by left-arm fast bowler Ian Bradshaw.Bradshaw was the best of the Barbados bowlers on the day and deservedmore than two wickets.