Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan survived dropped catches and went on to make unbeaten centuries as West Indies reached 299 for one wicket on the third day of the fourth Test against South Africa in Antigua on Sunday.
Gayle was on 184 not out and Sarwan 103 in a record stand of 285 against South Africa, who had declared their first innings on 588 for six.
They bettered the 284 shared by Wavell Hinds and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the first Test of the series in Georgetown.
Gayle, who has now made seven Test centuries, might have been dismissed on 80 but South Africa captain Graeme Smith at slip failed to hold an edge off the bowling of Jacques Kallis.
Four balls earlier Boeta Dippenaar, at square leg, had put down a difficult chance offered by Sarwan on 29 off Makhaya Ntini.
Gayle, who smashed his 50 off 34 balls, said he had been spurred on by the South Africans, who scored four centuries in one innings for the first time.
"It was very difficult to go out there and bat after spending more than two days in the field," Gayle told a news conference.
"But when I looked at how the South Africans batted, that motivated me."
South Africa coach Ray Jennings, whose team went into the match with an unassailable 2-0 series lead, criticised the pitch.
"We've seen six hundreds scored and seven wickets fall in three days. I don't believe pitches like this make for a good contest.
"The pitch is like concrete, it doesn't deteriorate."
Jennings defended a South African attack that bowled with discipline but lacked penetration.
"With the series being over there isn't much incentive for the guys," he said.
"It was always going to be difficult with [Shaun] Pollock coming back from injury and [Monde] Zondeki going off with a niggle."
BATTED AGGRESSIVELY
Gayle batted with barely bridled aggression in the first half of his innings and hit Pollock, playing his first international match since January after being sidelined with an ankle injury, for three fours in the first over.
The first was an edged drive through the slip cordon, the second a sublime drive through the covers, and the third was a wild slash that flew over the slips.
Ntini struck with his first delivery when Hinds drove uppishly and the fast bowler hung on to a one-handed catch.
The wicket did not interrupt Gayle's flow of runs and he stamped his authority by driving Pollock over extra cover for six before repeating the feat against Zondeki, who left the field after bowling five overs because of pain behind his right knee.
Gayle's scoring rate slowed after lunch but by close he had faced 257 balls, hitting 26 fours and three sixes.
South Africa bowled with discipline, but they lacked penetration. Left-arm spinner Nicky Boje bowled tidily to concede 42 runs in 18 overs.
The tourists had resumed on 525 for four and scored briskly to add 63 runs in 16 overs before declaring.
Kallis and Ashwell Prince took their record fifth-wicket stand to 267 before Kallis mistimed a pull shot off fast bowler Daren Powell and fell to a simple catch by Dwight Washington at mid-on. Kallis hit 147 off 287 balls with 14 fours and a six.
Three balls later Prince was caught behind by wicketkeeper Courtney Browne off medium pacer Dwayne Bravo for 131.
AB de Villiers (114) and Smith (126) also made first-innings centuries for South Africa.
Scoreboard:
South Africa 1st innings (Overnight: 525-4)
AB de Villiers c Browne b Best 114
G. Smith c Washington b Powell 126
B. Dippenaar run out 5
J. Kallis c Washington b Powell 147
H. Gibbs c Deonarine b Gayle 23
A. Prince c Browne b Bravo 131
M. Boucher not out 11
S. Pollock not out 13
Extras (b-4 lb-1 nb-8 w-5) 18
Total (for 6 wickets declared, 163 overs) 588
Fall of wickets: 1-245, 2-245, 3-251, 4-295, 5-562, 6-563.
Did not bat: M. Zondeki, M . Ntini, N. Boje
Bowling: Powell 32-3-137-2 (nb-1 w-3), Best 26-4-116-1 (nb-5), Washington 22-3-73-0, Bravo 27-4-97-1 (nb-2 w-2), Gayle 31-11-65-1, W. Hinds 6-0-24-0, Deonarine 18-1-69-0, Sarwan 1-0-2-0
West Indies 1st innings
C. Gayle not out 184
W. Hinds c and b Ntini 0
R. Sarwan not out 103
Extras (lb-1 nb-10 w-1) 12
Total (for 1 wickets, 80 overs) 299
Fall of wickets: 1-14.
To bat: B. Lara, S. Chanderpaul, N. Deonarine, D. Bravo, C. Browne, D. Powell, D. Washington, T. Best
Bowling: Pollock 17-2-67-0 (nb-7), Ntini 16-2-57-1 (nb-2), Zondeki 5-0-43-0 (nb-1 w-1), Kallis 11-1-47-0, Boje 18-6-42-0, Smith 9-0-39-0, AB de Villiers 4-1-3-0.
