South Africa's batsmen, led by Jacques Kallis, took the time to have a glorified net session, and improve their batting averages, as the second Test against West Indies meandered to an inevitable draw.
Kallis finished with an unbeaten 62, to follow-up his first innings hundred, as the South Africans declared on 235 for three in their second innings to effectively end the match about an hour after tea on the fifth and final day at Warner Park on Tuesday.
The result meant that the Proteas continue to lead the three-Test series 1-0, after they won the opening Test in Trinidad by 163 runs. The third and final Test starts on Saturday at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
"This was not an exciting surface on which to play Test cricket," said South Africa captain Graeme Smith. "We were all looking for a good, even battle between bat and ball. "Hopefully, Barbados will have a little bit more in the pitch, and it will be more of a fair challenge for both sides."
Smith admitted he found West Indies' tactics on the fourth day perplexing, when their batsmen crawled through the morning session, only scoring 39 runs from 26 overs, and generally playing it safe. "Our tactics (on the fourth day) were that West Indies had batted themselves into a position, and being 0-1 down, we felt they had an opportunity to make a play," he said. "They didn't make the play, and they were defensive, which played into our hands, so we had to bat out (this) day, and we head to Barbados still up 1-0."
{{/usCountry}}Smith admitted he found West Indies' tactics on the fourth day perplexing, when their batsmen crawled through the morning session, only scoring 39 runs from 26 overs, and generally playing it safe. "Our tactics (on the fourth day) were that West Indies had batted themselves into a position, and being 0-1 down, we felt they had an opportunity to make a play," he said. "They didn't make the play, and they were defensive, which played into our hands, so we had to bat out (this) day, and we head to Barbados still up 1-0."
{{/usCountry}}Kallis, who struck a half-dozen fours and a single six from 128 balls, and A.B. de Villiers, not out 31, batted through the final three hours to add 104 -- unbroken -- for the fourth wicket, as West Indies endured a fruitless toil towards the end of the match.
The two batted resolutely to restore stability to the South Africans' batting, after they wobbled to 131 for three, as things meandered aimlessly.
"I am very happy with the result," said West Indies captain Chris Gayle. "Our batting has been struggling, and to get over 500 runs is a great achievement. "We must commend the guys for the way they batted. Shiv (Chanderpaul) and (Brendan) Nash getting hundreds was always going to be good for us."
Gayle defended his side's go-slow tactics on the penultimate day, and he noted that they have not been batting well in recent matches, so they wanted to make the most of the opportunity.