- ReutersBrian Lara looks down at his wicket after falling for a duck in the fifth Test yesterday.
Tony Becca, Senior Sport Editor
LONDON:
ENGLAND'S dream of breaking a 31-year-old drought during which they failed to win a Test series against the once mighty West Indies appears set to come true.
At stumps on yesterday's third day of the fifth and final Test at The Oval, England, beaten 10 times in 13 contests since their 2-0 triumph at home in 1969, leading 2-1 and needing only a draw to break what they call 'the jinx', had not only powered their way into what looks like an impregnable position but were also in a wonderful position from which to push for victory.
With two days to go, the scoreboard read, England 281 and 56-2, the West Indies 125, and with the home team leading by 212 runs with eight wickets in hand, with Michael Atherton on 36 and Graham Thorpe on 10, not even the usually confident and some times blinkered West Indian fans here believe the tourists have a chance of winning the game, sharing the series, and protecting their wonderful record - not even if England fail to score another run.
A draw, however, seems the likely result - not because the West Indies could surprise with a decent batting display in the second innings, but because England, if it is left to them, will bat until the game reaches the stage where only they can win and because rain, as it did on Friday and again yesterday when it combined with bad light to limit the action to only 71 of the allotted 90 overs, could once again interfere with the proceedings.
England's position of strength when bad light stopped play at 6.46 yesterday was due to two things - some brilliant bowling by pacers Craig White and Dominic Cork and, once again, some embarrassing batting by the West Indies.
White, bowling at a top speed of 87.2 miles per hour and faster than Darren Gough whose best was 86.6, preened himself with a career-best five wickets for 32 off 11.5 overs, Cork flexed his muscles with 3-23 off eight overs, and the West Indies batsmen, included top gun Brian Lara, surrendered like lambs.
In a performance which left their supporters speechless, the West Indies, after a glorious comeback in which they knocked England off their perch at 159 without loss and left themselves with what many considered a good chance to end the summer on a high note, after resuming on 13 without loss, and after easing to 32 without loss after 33 minutes and eight overs, lost all 10 wickets in 29 overs for 93 runs.
And it had nothing to do with the pitch.
On Friday a few deliveries which bounced awkwardly did suggest the pitch could become difficult for batting. As Atherton, and to a lesser extent, Thorpe proved while batting undefeated against Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose when England batted a second time, however, although it was not the friendliest pitch in the world, it was not that difficult to bat on.
At Lord's when they were smashed for 54 in the second innings, there was talk about poor umpiring decisions, and at Headingley where they were routed for 61 there was talk about poor batting conditions.
Yesterday there could have been no such excuses, however, as the West Indies lost three wickets for no runs in nine deliveries while skidding to 32-3, five wickets for seven runs in 22 deliveries while falling to 39-5 and eight for 43 in 14 overs while dropping to 75-8 before they were rescued, as far as total embarrassment was concerned, by Ridley Jacobs, who scored 26 not out, and Nixon McLean who scored 29.
Jacobs and McLean, plus Mahendra Nagamootoo, who scored 18, not only prevented the embarrassment of the Windies following on to England, but they also played some lovely strokes.
In contrast to their colleagues who were selected to bat, the wicketkeeper and the two bowlers got behind the ball and stroked it confidently.
Yesterday's performance by the West Indies batsmen only underlined, once again, their lack of technique and confidence and they were simply shot down by professionals who exploited their weaknesses and preyed on their fears.
But for one delivery from Andy Caddick that flew off the pitch, brushed the shoulder of Sherwin Campbell's forward defensive bat and flew over the slips, there was no hint of the catastrophe to come. In fact, as they had done in the previous over when White replaced Gough at 30 without loss, West Indians around the ground breathed a sigh of relief when Cork replaced Caddick at 32 without loss.
Had they known then what was awaiting the West Indies, they would not have been so pleased.
With his third delivery, Cork bowled Campbell off the inside edge for 20 at 32-1, Adrian Griffith drove at the third delivery of the following over from White, edged to Graeme Hick at first slip, went his way for six at 32-2, and with the following delivery White made it 32-3 when he bowled Lara for his first ever first-ball duck in Test cricket - the left-hander going inside, attempting to play to leg and losing his leg stump.
In the following over, Wavell Hinds was leg before wicket to Cork for two at 34-4; in the following over, Ramnaresh Sarwan drove at White, was brilliantly caught by Marcus Trescothick at gully, and left the scene for five at 39-5; and five overs later when captain James Adams played half cocked to Cork, edged a catch to Hick at first slip and departed for five, it was 51-6.
At that stage, with lunch still 33 minutes away, with White boasting figures of 3-11 off five overs - including three for four in eight deliveries, with Cork on top of the world with 3-10 off five, and with the West Indies batsmen in a spin, captain Nasser Hussain surprisingly pulled them out of the attack and eased the pressure a bit.
When England started their second innings with a credit of 156 runs, the West Indies only hope was to do what England did to them at Lord's when they led by 133 and lost the match.
To their credit, the West Indies went for it, and with Ambrose removing Trescothick - caught by Lara at first slip for seven at 21-1, with McLean handing Hussain his first "pair" in first-class cricket when he trapped him leg before wicket for zero at 29-2, ended a miserable day on the run but still, theoretically, in with a chance.
SCOREBOARD
England first innings 281
West Indies first innings
(Resumed at 13-0)
S. Campbell b Cork 20
A. Griffith c Hick b White 6
W. Hinds lbw Cork 2
B. Lara b White 0
J. Adams c Hick b Cork 5
R. Sarwan c Trescothick b White 5
R. Jacobs not out 26
M. Nagamootoo c Trescothick b Gough 18
C. Ambrose lbw Caddick 0
N. McLean b White 29
C. Walsh b White 5
Extras (lb-3 nb-6) 9
Total 125
Fall: 1-32 2-32 3-32 4-34 5-39 6-51 7-74 8-75 9-119
Bowling: Gough 13-3-25-1, Caddick 18-7-42-1, White 11.5-1-32-5, Cork 8-3-23-3.
England second innings
M. Atherton not out 36
M. Trescothick c Lara b Ambrose 7
N. Hussain lbw McLean 0
G. Thorpe not out 10
Extras (lb-3) 3
Total (for two) 56
Fall: 1-21 2-29
Bowling: Ambrose 9-3-11-1, Walsh 14-5-20-0, McLean 8-2-15-1, Nagamootoo 3-1-7-0.
