Lara regained third spot in the all-time Test charts

Brian Lara reached his 27th Test century in the final session on day one of the second Test against South Africa on his home Queen's Park Oval.

In doing so, the left-hander surpassed Sir Garry Sobers as his country's most prolific century maker.

Sobers hit 26 Test tons in 93 matches while Lara's 27th came in his 113th.

The 35-year-old ended the day on 159 not out, while Courtney Browne was unbeaten on 19 as West Indies reached 281-6 in their first innings at stumps.

Afterwards Lara said: "I've been under a lot of mental pressure throughout my career and I know I had to come up with something special in this Test.

"Within the first 15 to 20 minutes out there, I thought that this could be something big."

Lara, who is now level with former Australian skipper Alan Border, is still seven centuries behind the all-time record holders - India's Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar on 34.

MOST TEST CENTURIES 34: Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar 32: Steve Waugh 29: Sir Donald Bradman 27: Brian Lara, Allan Border 26: Sir Garfield Sobers

Lara, who began the match with 10,094 runs, leapfrogged Gavaskar and Tendulkar into third place on the all-time list of leading run scorers in Test cricket.

Border leads with 11,174 runs with countryman Waugh on 10,927.

The home side began poorly, slipping to 13-2 as Chris Gayle (6) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (5) were both caught off paceman Makhaya Ntini.

Wavell Hinds (32) was the only one of the top three to reach double figures before he became Ntini's third victim.

But Lara and Chanderpaul settled the innings back on track and then took the fight to South Africa.

When in full flow, Lara's the best batsmen to watch in world cricket From AJ Have your say on TMS

Gayle, Sarwan, Lara and Dwayne Bravo were recalled after the sponsorship dispute, while South Africa brought in Ashwell Prince and Monde Zondeki.

The home side have a poor recent record in Trinidad, losing six out of their last eight Tests there - including a defeat by South Africa four years ago.

And a greenish Queen's Park Oval pitch, which showed signs of movement early on, is likely to produce a result again.

It took just six overs for Gayle to lose his patience well outside off-stump, and his swipe resulted in a high edge behind.

Sarwan was equally hot-headed, top-edging a pull to Andre Nel at fine leg for five.

Lara targets double ton

Lara started shakily and in between some streaky shots on the off-side, he almost played a Jacques Kallis delivery on to his off-stump.

But the tourists failed to make the most of the helpful conditions and Lara soon started asserting his authority.

Zondeki, in particular, came in for some severe treatment, paying the price for waywardness.

West Indies: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Donovon Pagon, Dwayne Bravo, Courtney Browne, Daren Powell, Pedro Collins, Reon King.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Abraham de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Monde Zondeki, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel.

Umpires: David Shepherd, Aleem Dar, TV Replays: Billy Doctrove, Reserve: Terence Birbal. Match referee: Jeff Crowe