Cricket: Lara belligerent as he struggles for form

Brian Lara dodges a bouncer from Shane Bond. Marty Melville / Getty Images

Draw a line under the name of Runako Morton for future reference.

The rejuvenated Leeward Islander again proved a pillar of responsibility for the West Indies yesterday, reaching 70 not out as the third and final test against New Zealand continued to fizzle in the drizzle at McLean Park.

Only 78.1 overs had been completed by the time officials mercifully declared the second day at an end, at which point the West Indies had reached 256 for four in their first innings and the test was heading for an almost certain draw.

For a while yesterday, Morton's composure and organisation was overshadowed by struggling star Brian Lara, whose belligerent 83 off 107 balls smacked of both a former genius and a desperate veteran.

Having looked out of touch at Auckland and Wellington, Lara resumed yesterday morning on 28 and launched an assault against the New Zealanders, almost as if he was trying to smash his way back into form.

Some of his shots were pure vintage Lara; an effortless cover drive off the front foot, an equally regal punch through the covers off the back foot, a disdainful pull off Chris Martin and a glorious on-drive off James Franklin.

Others were streaky, particularly miscues that flew aerially over gully, point and cover, and it was no surprise when he presented Nathan Astle with his 50th test wicket, courtesy of a bungled pull.

As it happened Lara's dismissal led to the most controversial moment of the game; the scarcely believable run-out of skipper Shiv Chanderpaul after a mix-up with Morton, reducing the West Indies to 224 for four at lunch.

Chanderpaul broke almost every rule in the book when he baulked at an easy single called for by Morton, and the pair then engaged in an unseemly scramble to make their ground at the non-striker's end.

Morton was initially given out by umpire Mark Benson, a decision that caused him to shout aloud in frustration and slam his bat into the ground, prompting the officials to request video confirmation.

After a long inquiry, it was found that Chanderpaul's attempt to regain his ground had been defeated by Morton's survival instincts and the skipper was dispatched to the dressing room instead.

Morton, who brought up his second test half-century off 96 balls, said afterwards that Chanderpaul had told him at the lunch break to forget the incident and to focus on making the most of his opportunity.

"It was disappointing to lose the skipper at that point," he said. "But being the professional he is, he came over at the break and told me to keep playing; to put it behind me and to re-focus on what I needed to do.

"He was out there clapping when I brought up my 50 after lunch."

Astle's 50th test wicket should be an easy one for him to tell his children about; the day he foxed the world's greatest batsman with a slightly short delivery that drew an attempted pull-shot, a bottom edge and a lucky deflection on to the stumps.

It was the second time Astle had foiled Lara in the series. "It's nice to get him, obviously," said Astle.

"I'm just trying to hit my areas and he's quite an attacking guy. I get the feeling he wants to have a crack at me, but to do that he's got to take a bit of a risk, and because of that I've ended up getting him twice."