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England in charge again

Friday, April 2 2004

West Indies vs England 3rd Test

West Indies 224 (Sarwan 63, Chanderpaul 50, Flintoff 5-58, Harmison 3-42)
England 20-1


Another day, another spectacular West Indies collapse. Having surprised everyone by winning the toss, Michael Vaughan took the bold step of inserting the home side so that his bowlers could make use of the initial greenness in the wicket. By tea, the home side seemed to be heading towards a competitive total but an extraordinary final session saw them capitulate to 224 all out in the face of excellent bowling from Harmison and Flintoff, who produced his best ever figures in tests. England, despite the predictable loss of Trescothick, will expect to secure a significant first innings lead.


The early play suggested that Vaughan's decision was the right one. Hoggard bowled particularly well and, with only six runs on the board, he removed Gayle courtesy of a slightly iffy leg before decision. TV replays suggested that the ball would have swung past leg stump, but England had once again made an early breakthrough. If an early WI wicket was not unusual in this series, the appearance of Lara at number three was. Even allowing for Sarwan's poor form, this was a brave move with the new ball moving around in the early morning conditions, and England can't have been disappointed to see him walking to the crease at this stage. In the event, he looked much more solid than in the first two tests and he settled in without undue alarm. However, he soon lost Ganga, who had replaced the injured Devon Smith, with the score on 20. Before then, Ganga could have been caught by Thorpe and probably should have been given out leg before, but he was ultimately unlucky to find himself lbw leaving a ball that would probably have passed over the stumps.


At this point, Lara was joined by Sarwan, and the captain & vice-captain proceeded to repair the innings. They weren't always comfortable. On another day, Sarwan could have been given out leg before to Jones, although WI were certainly due some luck after the decisions that did for the openers. Lara generally looked good. He was patient and prepared to wait for the occasional loose delivery. He also played some quite sublime shots and, from England's viewpoint, he looked in ominously good touch. He did twice get away with thick edges - one flying through the gap between the slips and gully, and the other bouncing just short of the slips - but had made it to 36 before he made it third time unlucky. This time, Flintoff was the bowler to find the edge of his bat, and the ball flew straight to Butcher, who made no mistake.


At 88-3, many observers felt that another collapse was on the cards. Chanderpaul again didn't start well and nearly departed before he had scored, but his wild hook fell just short of Harmison at fine leg. However, after that escape, he and Sarwan dug in and took their side to a position of some comfort. Both had let-off's. Sarwan seemed lucky not to be given out after a ball from Jones appeared to have brushed his gloves on the way through to Read, and Chanderpaul was badly missed by Butcher off the bowling of Flintoff. Shortly after tea, they had taken the score to 167 and with both batsmen looking increasingly comfortable, WI looked set to post a challenging total. Instead, they lost their last seven wickets for 57.


Once again, it was Stephen Harmison who turned the game around for England. First, he persuaded Sarwan to throw away much of his hard work with a loose drive that only found its way to Flintoff at second slip. His innings of 63 was instrumental in the home side making any sort of score today, but, having made it that far, he will be kicking himself failing to go on with it. Apart from anything else, this success noticeably livened up the bowler who promptly had Hinds for dinner. Having hit him on the helmet, he peppered the youngster with a series of nasty short-pitched deliveries, the last one of which ended up in the hands of Jones and fine leg. Cue Freddy. He had Jacobs brilliantly caught by Collingwood, briefly substituting for Harmison and, after seeing Best dropped by Butcher, with the very next ball ended Chanderpaul's resistance for exactly 50 thanks to a sharp catch by Thorpe. WI were now in free-fall. Jones had Collins well taken by Trescothick at first slip before Flintoff ended Bests' brief counter-attack and then finished the innings by claiming Edwards first ball. His first five-for in test cricket was thoroughly deserved and may just be the start of a much-needed improvement in his bowling figures.


England's joy at dismissing WI for 224 was tempered by the need to face 12 overs in fading light at the end of a hard day in the field. Once again, Trescothick didn't last long, playing on to a fast in-swinger from Edwards. But there were no further wickets, and England will be delighted with the day's play.


Posted by David