Chanders stands tall as WI wilts

Ashley Giles prospered against a heartless West Indian batting effort to claim 5/81 and bowl England to a comprehensive 210-run victory in the 1st NPower Test at Lord's. For Giles it is his first 5-wicket haul in England and the fourth of his career, the first in a winning cause for England.

Resuming from 0 overnight, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the only man to give a meaningful contribution as he fought for 97 not out. This came after Chanderpaul's unbeaten ton in the first innings and took 152 balls and contained 18 fours.

The other overnight batsman, captain Brian Lara looked to be aggressive early and got to 44 before that aggression became his undoing. Lara charged down the track and looked to drive through the covers, but missed a sharp turning delivery completely and was bowled. The sounds of the fat lady warming up were enhanced not long after as Dwayne Bravo (10) was caught and bowled from a push-drive back to Giles - 194/5.

Generally adept to the tough situations, Ridley Jacobs this time failed to get going and was caught by Thorpe at slip off Hoggard for 1. Omari Banks had his stumps destroyed for the second time in the game, his middle-stump knocked back by big Stephen Harmison.

Tino Best strode to the crease and drove his first ball through the offside for 3 runs off of Harmison. He was then made to face up to Ashley Giles and, while defending 5 balls capably, he received a bit a gamesmanship chatter from "Freddie" Flintoff at slip. The stump mic picked up the comment of "Mind the windows Tino" and Best's response was swift and futile. The Bajan pacer charged down the track to the very next ball, swiped and missed an innocuous delivery from Giles to be stumped simply by Geraint Jones.

Chanderpaul continued to play his game cooly despite the carnage at the other end. He was joined by Pedro Collins who tried his best in defence and indeed survived 58 minutes and 38 balls until his dismissal for 2. At the other end Chanderpaul took full advantage of the aggressive field set from Vaughan and dealt with Harmison in boundaries. His half-century came up from 91 balls, the same as in the first innings, with a lovely pull shot to the vacant square leg fence.

Collins was stumped off Giles attempting a trademark swipe (of the West Indian tailender) and dragging his toes out of the crease. Last man Fidel Edwards was beaten first and second up by Giles, but ultimately survived the over. The completion of that over meant Chanderpaul would resume his fight to score his second century of the match, the scoreboard reading 79 not out.

A couple of maidens and some later, Chanderpaul hit Jones for successive fours to end the 79th over and handed the strike back to Edwards to face Flintoff. Edwards lasted 3 balls and was caught behind for 2, Chanderpaul stranded on 97. The West Indies were all out for 267 and Chanderpaul just missed out on being the 4th batsman (and 2nd West Indian) in the history of the game to score two centuries in the same Test at Lord's. He has now score 326 Test runs without being dismissed, dating back to his 101 not out against Bangladesh in the Caribbean.

England's victory by 210 runs is their 4th in successive games and 7th in their last 8 matches. England are unbeaten in their last 9 Tests against the West Indies, winning 7 times. Giles' 5/81 was supported by hauls of 2/65 and 2/78 from Hoggard and Harmison respectively. The Man of the Match award was granted to Ashley Giles for his fine match figures of 75.4-14-210-9.

Match Summary:

England 1st innings 568 ao (121.4 overs)
RWT Key 221, AJ Strauss 137, MP Vaughan 103
PT Collins 4/113, DJJ Bravo 3/82, OAC Banks 2/121

West Indies 1st innings 416 ao (116.4 overs)
S Chanderpaul 128 not out, CH Gayle 66, DS Smith/OAC Banks 45, DJJ Bravo 44
A Giles 4/129, A Flintoff 3/25, MJ Hoggard 2/89

England 2nd innings 325/5 dec. (76.4 overs)
MP Vaughan 101 not out, A Flintoff 58, ME Trescothick 45
PT Collins 3/62, CH Gayle 1/45

West Indies 2nd innings 267 ao (79.3 overs)
S Chanderpaul 97 not out, CH Gayle 81, BC Lara 44
A Giles 5/81, MJ Hoggard 2/65, SJ Harmison 2/78

Result: England won by 210 runs
Series: England lead 4-Test series 1-0
Man of the Match: A Giles (Eng)

Posted by Liam