Cricket: Vincent dines out with a banquet

Lou Vincent celebrates his test double century, the 10th by a New Zealander. Picture / Fotopress

This was Lou Vincent's day.

In a career that's seen many more lean periods than three-course feasts, the Auckland batsman dined out on a wind-swept Sri Lankan bowling attack yesterday, and still had time for the after-dinner mint at the end.

In fact, so compelling was the scene-setting innings of 224 on the third day of the second test that Stephen Fleming even gave him a brief bowl near the end of play, in the hope that there might still be some karma left to be tapped.

Vincent's 8 1/2-hour, 347-ball triumph came at the end of a resurgent season, and helped push New Zealand to a first-innings total of 522 for nine declared, a lead of 311 on Marvan Atapattu's men with two days' play remaining.

And just to cap off the day, the happy-go-lucky Aucklander expertly caught dangerman Sanath Jayasuriya four overs before stumps, leaving Sri Lanka looking shaky at 10 for one overnight.

Unbeaten on 80 overnight, Vincent brought up his third test century off 224 balls and then went on the attack, cracking his third 50 off 61 deliveries and his fourth off just 54 to become the 10th New Zealander to score a test double-hundred.

The 26-year-old, who played a cheeky reverse-sweep to raise his 150 and celebrated with tongue out - ala Michael Jordan - danced a jig when he was dropped by Jayasuriya on 193, and then again when he reached the 200 mark.

When he was eventually run out, he had posted New Zealand's seventh highest test total, having eased past two huge scores from Mathew Sinclair, a momentous innings from Martin Donnelly at Lord's, Nathan Astle's mercurial effort at Christchurch, and Glenn Turner's battle of attrition at Kingston.

It was the fifth highest individual innings posted at the Basin, but surprisingly, just the fourth highest by a New Zealander against Sri Lanka, after Martin Crowe's 299 in 1990-91, Stephen Fleming's unbeaten 274 in 2003, and Bryan Young's 267 not out in 1996-97.

As well as Vincent played, however, he was well supported by Fleming (88), Kyle Mills (31) and Paul Wiseman (32 not out) as he put the pressure on the Sri Lankans during a particularly cold and wintry Wellington day.

The late resistance was substantial, Vincent combining with Mills to add a record 98 for the eighth wicket, and with Wiseman to add a record 59 for the ninth.

It followed a brief moment of concern earlier in the day when Fleming and Brendon McCullum departed off consecutive balls in a Chaminda Vaas over, casting an air of uncertainty over the size of New Zealand's advantage.

Vaas was the unsung hero on an otherwise forgettable day for Sri Lanka, taking the first six wickets to fall and keeping his side in the game until deep into the middle session, when both Vincent and the polar blast reached full force.

Vincent, who threw his boots to some children before he entered the dressing room, expressed a profound sense of relief at reaching three-figures for the first time since his century against India at Mohali in 2003.

"The century was the more meaningful moment for me," he said last night.

"It's been 14 months since my last century for New Zealand, and being just the third, with 20 test matches under my belt - it was good to get there."

He said his dramatic acceleration through the second half of his innings, when he scored more than a hundred runs in the middle session, was the result of spending so much time at the crease and seeing the ball so quickly.

"I'd been seven hours at the crease so I finally had my eye in. When it's your day, when it's rolling for you - you don't chuck it away."

Top scores Black Caps' highest test scorers

299: Martin Crowe v Sri Lanka, Wellington, 1990-91
274*: Stephen Fleming v Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2002-03
267*: Bryan Young v Sri Lanka, Dunedin, 1996-97
259: Glenn Turner v West Indies, Georgetown, 1971-72
239: Graham Dowling v India, Christchurch, 1967-68
230*: Bert Sutcliffe v India, Delhi, 1955-56
224: Lou Vincent v Sri Lanka, Wellington, 2004-05
223*: Glenn Turner v West Indies, Kingston, 1971-72
222: Nathan Astle v England, Christchurch, 2001-02
214: Mathew Sinclair v West Indies, Wellington, 1999-00
206: Martin Donnelly v England, Lord's, 1949
204*: Mathew Sinclair v Pakistan, Christchurch, 2000-01
202: Stephen Fleming v Bangladesh, Chittagong, 2004-05
*not out