Steady Samuels builds Windies lead

Samuels made 94 before he was dismissed by Dale Steyn while Chanderpaul built a gritty 128-ball 43 not out as the tourists reached 281 for four at stumps.

Fifth man in Dwayne Bravo will resume day two on nought having faced seven balls before bad light stopped play.

The West Indies made a blistering start to the day with captain Chris Gayle powering 13 boundaries on his way to a brisk 66 from just 49 balls before lunch.

Gayle's knock was in stark contrast to the workmanlike efforts of Samuels, who faced 142 deliveries on his way to a laborious half-century.

Darren Ganga was the first wicket to fall when he edged an Andre Nel delivery to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for 33.

Gayle's dashing innings came to an end a short time later when he edged spinner Paul Harris to Jacques Kallis at slip. Runako Morton (33) was the only batsman to fall in the afternoon session after pushing Makhaya Ntini to point where Ashwell Prince took a simple catch.

At that stage the game was very much in the balance with the Windies on 166 for three, but Chanderpaul and Samuels defied the Proteas attack to take the total towards 300 before Kallis took a stunning catch at second slip to dismiss Samuels.

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith had earlier won the toss and elected to field, but his three-pronged pace attack of Ntini, Steyn and Nel were expensive throughout the day and it was Kallis and Harris who kept the run-rate down.

Kallis allowed just 12 runs in 11 overs, while Harris managed to claim a wicket as he gave up 42 runs from 17.