Lara wanted to bat for two days to save Test

LAHORE: West Indian captain Brian Lara said on Tuesday he was disappointed that he could not stay at the crease long enough to wrest a draw in the first Test against Pakistan that his team lost.

The 37-year-old left-handed batsman defied the Pakistan bowling attack for three hours in the morning session on the fourth day but was trapped leg-before by off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez, an hour before tea.

"I did not remove my helmet on reaching my century simply because I wanted to bat for two days to save the Test," said Lara, whose stubborn 122-run knock failed to avoid a nine-wicket defeat on the fourth day.

Lara added 137 runs for the fifth wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul who scored 81. Pakistan hit back by taking the last six West Indian wickets for 53 runs and achieved the 13-run target for one wicket.

"It wasn't about winning. I wanted to try and get a draw. I fell short today and that is disappointing and I am sure Shiv feels the same way," he said.

Lara, who holds the record of highest score of 400 in a Test innings, blamed the low score in the first innings to his team's defeat.

"Getting out for 206 on the first day changed the match. The bowlers did well but batsmen put teams into positions from which they win and the bowlers complete it," said Lara, whose team has won just once in their last 15 Tests.

Lara shied away from criticizing Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva who gave several controversial decisions in the match.

De Silva, who returned to international umpiring after two years, adjudged Chris Gayle leg-before in the first innings when the ball hit the opener high on his pads and was clearly missing the stumps.

Silva also erred when he did not refer a close stumping decision to the third umpire when Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf seemed out of his crease. Yousaf went on to score 192 runs.

"They (umpiring decisions) are part of the game and you have to accept them. Some days tough decisions go against you and some days they don't," said Lara.

West Indian captain hoped his side would stage a comeback in second Test starting in Multan from November 19.

"We still got the rest of the series to look forward to, we have made some inroads in terms of playing in Pakistan. Majority of the players are playing for the first time in Pakistan and there are still 10 days of Test cricket to play," he said.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said it was easy once Lara was dismissed. "Lara was the danger man but once he was dismissed we knew the win was around the corner," said Inzamam, who was playing his first match after being banned for four one-day matches for bringing the game into disrepute at the Oval in England in August.

Inzamam did not agree Pakistan was playing with a second string pace attack without key pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, who were banned on doping charges.

"This was our best 15 and I don't think this was the second string. All the players did well and Mohammad Yousuf was at his usual best," said Inzamam.