Giles does it again

Just over 10 days ago, before the series started, Brian Lara asked who England would turn to in the event that Steve Harmison was injured or off form. Did England have a plan B?

2 Test's later, the West Indies are 2-0 down in the Test series, and of the 40 wickets to fall so far, Harmison has picked up just 3 of them.

Today he was called onto bowl just 6 overs, as Matthew Hoggard and Ashley Giles bowled superbly to rip out the top order, before James Anderson produced 2 stunning yorkers to remove the final 2 wickets and give England a win by 256 runs with more than a day to spare.

It had always looked the likely result when England resumed this morning 378 runs ahead and with 7 wickets in hand. All eyes first thing were on Marcus Trescothick, who needed just 12 more to become the first player ever to score 2 centuries in the same Edgbaston Test Match.

He was into his stride right from the first ball, and for the first 8 overs, Trescothick and his fellow left-hander Graeme Thorpe didn't look troubled as they added 36 runs.

Then the first wicket fell - and Trescothick was the victim of a superb bit of fielding by stand-in captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lara being off the field after taking some damage to his finger as he fielded a ball in the slips. Sarwan's direct hit ran Trescothick out by a whisker, and brought in Andrew Flintoff to great cheers.

The situation was set up for the fan's favourite to provide one of his rapid-fire cameos, but Lara had cleverly given the ball to Chris Gayle first thing. Gayle only had 16 Test Wickets to his name before this match, but Lara reckoned that his vast experience as a One Day bowler could be the ideal thing to restrict England's pursuit for fast runs.

Sarwan saw no need to change this, and indeed he kept Jermaine Lawson on at the other end for the entire morning session - both bowlers delivering more than 13 overs without a break.

Those 2 proved to be the right choices to bowl, as runs weren't flowing, and England's likely men all perished in a flurry of rash shots and the odd superb delivery. Thorpe charged down the wicket to Gayle and was smartly stumped by Ridley Jacobs, then Geraint Jones was undone by a Lawson delivery and clean bowled.

Then Gayle took control and picked up the last 4 wickets in 17 balls as England fell to 248 all out - the final 7 going down for 64 runs.

Lunch was taken 10 minutes early, and the West Indies were left the small matter of 479 to win, or more likely 5 sessions to bat.

Devon Smith again was first to fall, Hoggard getting an edge to Trescothick to remove the opener for 11 with the score on 15. That brought in the first innings centurion Sarwan, and he and Gayle fared well against the seamers, Gayle in particular putting away any ball that was loose.

However, this England attack isn't just about the quicks any more, and Michael Vaughan was able to throw the ball to his left arm spinner Giles with the confidence that he wouldn't let him down.

He didn't, as within 5 balls, Sarwan was athletically caught off his pad and bat by Andrew Strauss and it was 54-2 with the only real hope of a miracle, Lara, coming to the wicket.

Runs flowed freely whilst the captain and Gayle were together, 47 being put on in just over 7 overs, before Lara was adjudged to have got an edge onto a Giles delivery that flew to Flintoff at slip. As at Lords, there was some doubt as to the dismissal, but unlike at Lords, there was no hint on Lara's face that he felt aggrieved, and the TV snickometer did suggest the correct decision had been made. Lara is however now only 7 runs from the landmark of 10,000 in Test Cricket, so Old Trafford will surely witness that feat.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul joined Gayle, and took a lot of the strike as the pair batted through to take Tea at 139-3.

Hoggard opened from the Pavilion End and Giles from the City End after tea, and although Giles had several close calls for leg before wicket against Chanderpaul, on each occasion Simon Taufel adjudged that the batsman had been playing a shot to the ball that struck him outside the line of off stump.

In a moment of great thinking, Vaughan brought himself on for the 5th over after the interval, to allow the bowlers to change end. Giles' first 2 balls caused Chanderpaul problems, and the 3rd one did the trick, as Darrell Hair decided that Chanderpaul wasn't playing a shot, and sent him on his way.

That sparked yet another collapse, as Dwayne Bravo was bowled second ball by Giles, an identical dismissal to his one just 24 hours previously from the left armer.

Ridley Jacobs was on a pair, and almost fell first ball to a return catch by Giles, the Warwickshire man running 10 yards and diving full stretch but just not quite able to hold on.

Hoggard did ensure Jacobs got his pair, thanks to a sensational one handed catch by James Anderson running backwards from mid off and leaping high into the air, but prior to that Giles had already got his second five wicket haul in 2 matches with a fine low catch by Strauss to remove Gayle. Gayle had scored 82 from only 102 balls, and fell just 18 short of becoming the first man in Test history to take 5 wickets and score a century on the same day.

When Hoggard trapped Pedro Collins leg before wicket for a duck, 5 wickets had fallen for 10 runs, but Omari Banks was defiant, and along with Corey Collymore and Jermaine Lawson, delayed the inevitable for three quarters of an hour.

As at Lords, Giles was unable to collect the elusive 10th wicket of the match, as Anderson had the last laugh.

Still with 18 wickets in 2 games, maybe "the wheelie bin" has answered Lara's question? Only time will tell.

ENGLAND 566-9
Flintoff 167, Trescothick 106, Jones 74, Thorpe 61, Harmison 31*, Bravo 4-76
WEST INDIES 336
Sarwan 139, Lara 95, Chanderpaul 45, Giles 4-65, Hoggard 3-89
ENGLAND 248
Trescothick 107, Thorpe 54, Gayle 5-34, Lawson 4-94
WEST INDIES 222
Gayle 82, Chanderpaul 43, Giles 5-57, Hoggard 3-64

Posted by Marc