- Dellmarr
West Indies fast bowler Jermaine Lawson (right) successfully appeals for the dismissal of England opener Andrew Strauss at Edgbaston yesterday. Strauss was caught behind by wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs (second right) while West Indies captain Brian Lara (right) jogs in to congratulate the bowler.
Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
BIRMINGHAM:
THE WEST Indies' dream of stretching their winning streak at Edgbaston to five in a row was on the verge of turning into a nightmare at the end of play on the third day of the second Test against England yesterday.
At stumps on a day that moved from overcast conditions in the morning to bright sunshine by midday, the scoreboard read: England 566 and 148 for three, the West Indies 336. The home team is leading by 378 with seven wickets in hand.
With Marcus Trescothick on 88 and looking for a second century in the match, with Graham Thorpe on 28, with the dashing Andrew Flintoff to come and two more days to go, the team that won here by an innings and 180 runs in 1984, by seven wickets in 1991, by an innings and 64 in 1995, and by an innings and 93 in 2000 is on the run - as even the handful of West Indians who were present yesterday, who were cheering heartily at the start of the day's play, and who were smiling during the lunch interval will agree is facing another defeat.
Resuming on 184 for two off 40 overs with vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan on 87 and captain Brian Lara on 74 and a mere 41 runs away from becoming only the fourth batsman to score 10,000 runs, the West Indies were in a good position to challenge England's formidable total and although they lost Lara for 95 at 221 for three, the West Indies were 288 for three at lunch with Sarwan on 135, Shivnarine Chanderpaul on 27 and everything appeared to have been going well.
HISTORY
One hundred and one minutes and 21 overs after the interval, however, the West Indies first innings was history. In an amazing collapse, even if it is now the norm, the West Indies lost their remaining seven wickets for the addition of 48 runs with the last six falling for 13 runs off 63 deliveries in 54 minutes. With pacer Flintoff picking up one, pacer Matthew Hoggard one, pacer Steve Harmison one, the destroyer, on a pitch still playing well, was left-arm spinner Ashley Giles. In 33 deliveries, Giles, bowling from the pavilion end, grabbed four wickets while conceding only five runs. After stroking the ball sweetly, 25 times to the boundary, and ticking off his first century and the sixth of his career after batting for 303 minutes and facing 226 deliveries, Sarwan went back to Flintoff, attempted to drive to cover, knocked the ball on to his stumps, and made it 297 for four 17 minutes after lunch.
With Dwayne Bravo joining a solid Chanderpaul, the West Indies added 26 runs for the fifth wicket before Giles, Hoggard and Harmison pulled the trigger and shot them down one by one - the next three wickets falling for one run in 15 deliveries, the last three for two runs in 13 deliveries.
FIRST TO GO
Bravo was the first of the three to go the right-hander playing across the line and bowled offstump between bat and pad by Giles for 13 at 323 for five, he was followed by Ridley Jacobs - the left-hander driving loosely at Hoggard, edging a catch to Trescothick at first slip and going away for zero at 324 for six.
After batting undefeated in his previous three innings while scoring 102 versus Bangladesh at Sabina Park, 128 and 97 at Lord's, Chanderpaul lost his wicket for the first time in 17 hours and 12 minutes when he stretched forward to Giles and was caught by Robert Key at silly point for 45 at 324 for seven - fielder diving forward to the ball as it bounced from the left-hander's right pad and then onto his glove.
Ten runs later, Pedro Collins, playing forward to Giles, was brilliantly, almost nonchalantly, caught low down at leg slip by a smiling Flintoff, another two runs later, Omari Banks drove at Harmison and edged a catch to wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, and with the addition of only one more run, Corey Collymore went back to Giles and was gone.
For the West Indies, who started brilliantly with Lara driving the first two deliveries from Hoggard to the long-off and the long-on boundaries before he drove at Flintoff and nicked a catch to Graham Thorpe at gully, it was a disappointing performance and one that could lead to defeat despite Jermaine Lawson's efforts and a magnificent catch by Christopher Gayle when England, leading by 230 runs, batted a second time instead of enforcing the follow-on.
Charging in from the City end after Collins had failed to make an impression, Lawson, in a wonderful spell during which he picked up three wickets in 16 deliveries, removed Andrew Strauss for five at 12 for one - the left-hander cutting without getting close to the ball and edging a catch to wicketkeeper Jacobs, Key for four at 37 for two the right-hander driving straight to Gayle at mid-wicket, and Michael Vaughan for three at 52 for three - the England captain driving and Gayle, running backwards at mid-on and reaching for the ball, coming up with a flying catch.
DELIVERY
From there on, however, and despite a chance from Thorpe - eight at 90 for three - when the left-hander chased a wide delivery, a very wide delivery, from Collins and was dropped by Jacobs diving to his left, it was all England with Trescothick making merry against bowlers he probably would love to take around the world with him. So far the left-hander, who scored 105 in the first innings, has hit one six and 12 fours in 170 minutes off 137 deliveries.
SCOREBOARD
England first innings 566-9 dec.
West Indies first innings
(Resumed at 184-2)
R. Sarwan b Flintoff 139
B. Lara c Thorpe b Flintoff 95
S. Chanderpaul c Key b Giles 45
D. Bravo b Giles 13
R. Jacobs c Trescothick b Hoggard 0
O. Banks c Jones b Harmison 4
P. Collins c Flintoff b Giles 6
C. Collymore lbw Giles 2
J. Lawson not out 0
Extras: (9b, 5lb, 1w, 5nb) 20
TOTAL: (all out) 336
Overs: 91.3.
Fall: 1-5, 2-12, 3-221, 4-297, 5-323, 6-324, 7-324, 8-334, 9-334, 10-336.
Bowling: Matthew Hoggard 18-0-89-3 (2nb), Steve Harmison 14-1-64-1, James Anderson 11-3-37-0 (1w), Ashley Giles 30.3-7-65-4, Andrew Flintoff 15-1-52-2 (3nb), Michael Vaughan 1-0-8-0 (1nb), Marcus Trescothick 2-0-7-0.
England second innings
M. Trescothick not out 88
A. Strauss c Jacobs b Lawson 5
R. Key c Gayle b Lawson 4
M. Vaughan c Gayle b Lawson 3
G. Thorpe not out 28
Extras: (8b, 2lb, 5w, 5nb) 20
TOTAL: (for three wkts) 148
Overs: 38.
Fall: 1-24, 2-37, 3-52.
Bowling: Pedro Collins 9-1-29-0 (2nb), Corey Collymore 9-2-33-0 (3nb, 5w), Jermaine Lawson 7-1-20-3, Dwayne Bravo 6-1-28-0, Omari Banks 5-1-20-0, Chris Gayle 2-1-8-0.
