In the end, the day belonged to the Guyanese fisherman's son

Thirteen times in 18 Tests, he had passed the half century mark. Obdurate, resolute until he passed that plimsoll line, he then became fidgety, restless, uncharacteristically casual with his shots, never once converting any of those carefully constructed fifties into a hundred.

On Thursday, three years and ten days after he began playing Test cricket, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the son of a Guyanese fisherman, finally notched up three figures against his name.

There is something fascinating about a batsman making his first Test century. In Chanderpaul's case, even diehard India fans could not have grudged him that milestone. So often had he come close to a hundred. So often had he perished just as it seemed that this was the day he would do it.

It was ironic that the feat did not come versus the Australians against whom he scored his previous highest score in Tests -- 82 -- or the English against whom he had shepherded Brian Lara to that batsman's 375 not out, but against India from where his ancestors set sail for the South American coast sometime last century.

There is nothing West Indian about Shivnarine's game. In a team endorsed by flamboyance, he is often an advertisement for inelegance. If Lara is Errol Flynn; Hooper Clark Gable; Chanderpaul is Spencer Tracey. There is nothing brilliant about him, but what the hell, he is so darned reliable. The West Indies batting line-up has come to rely so much on the slight man who first learnt his craft on Guyanese beaches.

Chanderpaul's resolute style, his determination to go on -- mindless of the times the bowlers have beaten him or the ball has just eluded the fielder's fingers or the procession of batsmen proceeding to the pavilion at the other end -- is what has made him one of the most dependable players in contemporary cricket.

And though the Indians were lucky to win the toss, bowled well to pick up seven wickets, at the end of the day when umpires Lloyd Barker and Steve Randall called off play because of bad light, the first day's honours in the third Test belonged to Chanderpaul before anyone else.

Tendulkar was right to field on a pitch that was grassy and offered plenty of bounce throughout the day. The Barbados homicide squad would have been summoned had Lara -- West Indies captain for the first time after Courtney Walsh was ruled out with a hamstring injury -- called correctly and set Messr Ambrose, Bishop, Dillon and Rose on the Indians.

Prasad looked a bit jaded in the morning. Has the responsibility of being spearhead of the Indian attack less than a year after he started playing Test cricket got into him? Both he and Kuruvilla, despite the assistance they received from the pitch, were guilty of not making the West Indies batsmen play. Too many balls were wide off the off stump and comfortably left alone.

The Indians went into lunch a wicket or two short of what they had probably budgeted for. Campbell had gone early, cutting Prasad to slip where Azza took a low, good catch. Williams, who has scored two centuries in the Red Stripe contest at the Kensington Oval in the last year, was nowhere like his Port of Spain self. The centurion of the second Test hit 5 fours in his 24, then departed, gliding a ball from Dodda Ganesh to Laxman at second slip.

No luck after that as the erratic Indian attack permitted Chanderpaul and Lara to consolidate the West Indies innings with a 48-run stand.

Prasad bowled with much more fire after the luncheon interval. His ball to dismiss Lara was a certified beauty, making the great man play, then swerving into Tendulkar's hands at first slip. Lara out for 19. Hooper, the next man in, was majestic and regal. Somehow, even Lara does not look as good as Hooper when the Guyanese batsman is in full cry.

Hooper went at 19, cutting Ganesh -- the sole Indian change, coming in for Sunil Joshi -- to Mongia. Holder, the local boy, didn't last long either, cutting Prasad to Azza who took another good catch. Both shots were poor, undeserving of the moment. The West Indies were in serious trouble at 131/5.

Courtney Browne, who came in for Junior Murray, hung on tenaciously, fobbing off the Indian bowlers for more than an hour, setting up a 56-run stand with Chanderpaul. In desperation, Tendulkar, who had given Kumble just one over in the morning, relying on his medium pacers, finally entrusted the ball to his deputy who has taken 16 wickets in the series so far. Until the Bridgetown Test, Prasad, in contrast, had just taken three wickets! Browne, hemmed in by an attacking field, perished, lofting Kumble to Tendulkar in the deep.

Prasad bowled Bishop for 4 soon enough, bringing big man Ambrose as the little guy's unlikely sherpa to climb that virgin peak. Curtly played some attacking cricket himself, one stylish cut to the fence was worthy of a batsman higher up in the order not someone coming in at number nine.

From his lofty perch, the Antiguan hot a ringside view of the scenes of sheer joy as crowds swarmed all over Chanderpaul. For six minutes or so, the new centurion was lost in the deluge, as policemen, local fans and some beefy tourists from Blighty hailed his feat. It was not a scene unknown to Chanderpaul. Three years ago, he had seen it happen when identical crowds submerged Lara after he overtook Sir Gary.

That morning, he was at the other end, the spectator to the celebration. This time, he was the celebration.

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