Brian Lara hit an unbeaten 313 against England on Sunday, bringing back memories of his world-record 375 against the same opponents on the same ground nearly 10 years to the day.
The West Indies captain led domination on the second day of their fourth and final Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground.
Lara, 86 overnight, was almost flawless throughout an extended day as the West Indies moved from 208 for two to 595 for five.
On Monday, Lara will try to reclaim his record, which Australian Matthew Hayden (380) captured last October against Zimbabwe in Perth.
Lara had solid support from Ramnaresh Sarwan (90), Ricardo Powell (23), Ryan Hinds (36) and Ridley Jacobs (47 not out) as the home team virtually assured they would avoid a 4-0 clean sweep in the series.
But the day belonged to the West Indies skipper, who smacked 34 fours and three sixes off 426 balls in just more than 10 hours.
Lara, a month short of his 35th birthday, joined Donald Bradman as the only other batsman with two triple centuries in Tests. It was also the left-hander’s seventh score of more than 200 in his 106th match.
Lara quickly set the mood for the day as he resumed on 86 not out. He passed his 25th Test century within a quarter-hour and hardly played a false stroke.
The England bowlers beat the Trinidadian’s bat on less than a handful of occasions and there were only two genuine scares as Lara entertained the crowd of 12 000.
The first came when he was 128 and Matthew Hoggard’s direct hit from third man nearly ran him out. The next was at 293 when his 34th boundary sizzled past off-spinner Gareth Batty’s despairing clutch for an unlikely return catch.
In between, there were cracking square cuts, text-book drives, cheeky sweeps and deft deflections. His three sixes were monstrous hits out of the ground into the adjoining Factory Road.
Two came off Batty, while his last was in the day’s last over, bowled by opposing skipper Michael Vaughan.
Earlier, Lara and Sarwan stretched their overnight third-wicket stand to 232 before Sarwan fell 10 runs short of a fifth Test century in his 45th Test.
The right-handed vice-captain lashed eight fours and a six off 166 balls before he edged Steve Harmison to Marcus Trescothick at first slip.
Ricardo Powell added 50 with his captain but perished in typically attacking fashion. The hard-hitting right-hander top-edged a pull to third man off the Simon Jones.
Hinds, too, fashioned a useful partnership of 89 with Lara but fell when he threatened more. The left-hander chipped a return catch to Batty, who was the best of the English bowlers with two for 141.
Ridley Jacobs, who at 36 is the only player on the side older than Lara, made sure he didn’t waste the opportunity provided by a true pitch.
The Antiguan added 126 unbroken with Lara as the English effort flagged toward the end of a long day. Jacobs hit three fours and a six off 91 balls in two hours and 15 minutes. — Sapa-AP