Centurion, South Africa: Hashim Amla hit his third test double-century as South Africa declared its first innings on 552-5 before rain prevented further play on day two of the first test against West Indies at Centurion on Thursday.
Amla scored 208 and put on a record 308 for the fourth wicket with AB de Villiers, who contributed 152, while Stiaan van Zyl became the fifth South African to score a ton on debut.
Van Zyl was unbeaten on 101 from just 130 balls when Amla announced the declaration shortly before tea.
However, the South African bowlers were denied the opportunity to make inroads into the West Indian batting when dark clouds rolled over the ground and heavy rain wiped out the third session of play.
The Proteas began the day on 340 for three, and De Villiers added just 11 runs to his overnight score before he was dismissed by offspinner Sulieman Benn.
South Africa was soon back on track, though, as Amla added 155 for the fifth wicket with Van Zyl and surpassed Graeme Smith's record of 183 for a South African captain on home ground.
The 31-year-old went on to mark his first home test as captain with a double-century, suggesting that he remains unaffected by the added responsibility.
"It's still early days in my captaincy, but the more I captain the less I see it as a distraction," Amla said. "For me it's just about trying to balance things, and I hope in time I can score more runs and just continue as I have been."
Although Amla fell to Benn soon after as South Africa looked for quick runs, Van Zyl joined Andrew Hudson, Jacques Rudolph, Alviro Petersen and Faf du Plessis among the list of South Africans to score a hundred on debut, although he is the first to do so on home turf.
"I was very nervous - I think before I faced my first ball my gloves were wet and I was shaking a bit," Van Zyl said. "Luckily I batted through the rough phase and then managed to score my runs."
The West Indies were hampered by the absence of fast bowler Kemar Roach, whose ankle injury prevented him from taking the field on the second day.
They were hit by a further blow late in the day when it was revealed that squad batsman Assad Fudadin had fractured a finger during warm-ups and will play no part in the series.
