Big challenge for depleted Windies

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Wednesday (AFP) - A depleted West Indies will be looking to prove their detractors wrong in the opening Test of four against South Africa that begins here on Thursday.

Long-standing left-handed batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul walks out on home soil at Bourda Oval leading a West Indies side that has been ravaged by the fallout from the sponsorship row between the West Indies Cricket Board, the West Indies Players' Association and current and previous team sponsors in recent weeks.

Several times in his distinguished career Chanderpaul has shown immense fighting qualities with the bat that will not be out of place now, and should not be lost on a side in which there is no Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, and to a lesser extent Fidel Edwards.