BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) - Brian Lara has expressed mixed feelings over his landmark 29th Test century on the first day of the opening Digicel match against Pakistan on Thursday.

Lara's breathtaking 130 off only 120 balls, laced with 16 fours and four sixes, lifted West Indies from 45 for three to an eventual 345 all out.

It was his first century against Pakistan, making him the fifth batsman in the history of the game - the others are Australian Steve Waugh, Gary Kirsten of South Africa and Indians Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid - to register hundreds against all Test-playing nations.

While cherishing the achievement, the 36-year-old Lara felt, however, that he needed to score even more heavily as he lamented the fact that West Indies were unable to bat the full day after winning the toss on a hard, true pitch at Kensington Oval.

"It (the hundred) has been a long time. I got 96 (against Pakistan) in Trinidad in 1993. Unfortunately I didn't go on in front of my home crowd," Lara said.

"Pakistan was the only country that was missing in the list of Test hundreds and I was really happy to get it today (Thursday).

"That of course was in the back of my mind and I thought that if I got a hundred, the team would certainly benefit."

Left-hander Lara also equalled the legendary Australian Sir Donald Bradman on the all-time list of Test century-makers, now lying fourth behind India's Sunil Gavaskar and Tendulkar (34 each) and Waugh (32).

It was Lara's third century in four Tests, and his second at Kensington this year, following 176 in the first innings of the third match against South Africa a month ago. The other (196) was at Queen's Park Oval in the second Test.
Yet he felt that he should have carried on at Kensington on both occasions.

"Of my three hundreds this season, maybe Trinidad was fine but I think in Barbados, 176 and 130 were not sufficient for what the team really required.
It's the first day of a Test match and we are already in the field," Lara asserted.

Pakistan had closed on 22 without loss off four overs.
Lara and captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul (92) added 169 for the fourth wicket of which Lara's contribution was 114 and Chanderpaul's 29, but the last four wickets tumbled for just nine runs.

"I thought myself and Shiv put on a really good partnership, Pakistan was on the back foot and all of a sudden we just fell apart," Lara said.

He never allowed the much-vaunted leg-spinner Danish Kaneria to settle and raced to his hundred with two consecutive straight sixes off him. Kaneira, however, had the last laugh by bowling Lara through the gate as he drove.

He (Kaneria) is a very good leg-spinner and for a leg-spinner you have to cater for four, five runs an over. They are attacking bowlers and he picked up three wickets. He is someone who Pakistan has relied on in the past. He has done the job for them. In the West Indies we understand that he is their trump card and I am sure he is going to get accustomed to the conditions," Lara said.

In relation to his aggressive style, almost from the start of his 164-minute innings, Lara said: "It's important to state your intentions very early.

Pakistan has very attacking bowlers and you need to go out there and if you are an attacking player, you can't sort of fall fully to them.

"So I try to play my normal innings and get the runs that are necessary." When reminded that he has been averaging close to 100 in Tests this year, Lara responded: "Let's hope it continues. We've got one more Test match against Pakistan, a couple against Sri Lanka and Australia at the end of the year, so I am hoping that it continues.

"One of the banes in my cricket is the inconsistency in my batting and I hope that it can carry on throughout the year."

Bowlers will certainly be hoping that Lara has given a different meaning to "inconsistency".

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