West Indies keep England at bay

A determined West Indies batted defiantly on the fourth day of the Third Test to keep England at bay and ensure the match is taken into the final day.

With the visitors requiring an unlikely target of 455 runs to win, it proved to be a frustrating day for England, chief tormentor Shivnarine Chanderpaul resisted everything the hosts threw at him, as his stay at the crease moved close to 4 and a half hours at the close of play with 81 runs to his name, and the West Indies on 301-5.

Denesh Ramdin is the other not out batsman, and the partnership currently stands at 52.

A further 154 runs are required on Monday if West Indies are to succeed in what would be a world record chase.

The morning started brightly for England as Steve Harmison showed a marked improvement on his first innings efforts. He bowled with purpose and consistently hit the areas that caused much concern for West Indies top order.

Indeed it was Harmison that got the breakthrough when he had the hesitant Chris Gayle caught well at second slip by the diving Paul Collingwood. Gayle currently is indecisive in his footwork either coming forward or going back, and as a result he has a tendency to be caught in between.

Earlier the West Indies opener had taken a blow on his left thumb that required treatment following a sharp lifting delivery from Harmison, emphasising the paceman’s increasing threat on this Old Trafford wicket.

Ryan Sidebottom was giving England an excellent option from the other end. He appears to have found an extra yard of pace without sacrificing his impeccable accuracy and swing movement.

Runako Morton and Devon Smith began to steady the ship, Morton putting his extravagant drives to one side choosing instead to be more watchful in his shot selection.

When Panesar was introduced there was an element of excitement around the crowd aswell as a successful inevitability.

At times he found excessive spin and variable bounce out of the footholes from the Brian Statham End, and came close to trapping Smith LBW with one that spun that Shane Warne would have been proud of.

Eventually he got his man, four overs before lunch, when Smith lunged forward only for the ball to turn and bounce and deflect off his glove to the grateful Cook at short leg.

Following the break for lunch, England found both Morton and Chanderpaul in obstinate moods. Chanderpaul has clearly been West Indies superior batsman on this tour to date, who knows exactly how to apply himself and rarely gives his wicket away cheaply.

He was to offer a chance to Panesar, when he was on 18, off the bowling of Harmison. Looking to work the ball onto the leg side, as he did so efficiently throughout the day, he found a leading edge that looped to the spinner at mid on. Not the smoothest of movers, Panesar did manage to make the ground to his left, but failed to cling on to a fairly regulation chance.

Morton remained circumspect but when he was presented with a chance to drive down the ground, he responded with a number of thudding strokes. Kevin Pietersen was unable to cling on to a return catch, getting a hand to it, but even that was not enough to stop the ball from fizzing to the boundary.

The partnership was becoming frustrating for England, despite Vaughan intelligently rotating his attack in search of the elusive wicket. It was finally delivered by the spinning Sikh, with the partnership on 73. Morton, having just reached his third half century of his Test career, misread the line of the ball from around the wicket, and opted not to offer a shot, as the ball struck him on his front pad. He had taken a large stride down the pitch but umpire Aleem Dar decided the ball was going on to hit the stumps. Morton was clearly livid with own judgemental error, having made a patient 54 off 145 balls.

The score at this point was 161-4, and Dwayne Bravo was the next man to join the gritty Chanderpaul at the crease, who was soon to reach his second fifty of the game, pulling Harmison in front of square.

Not always the prettiest batsman to watch, yet highly effective, Chanderpaul used all his experience, playing the ball late, under his nose, and punishing England if they bowled too straight. He was equally adept when having the chance to cut or drive through the off side.

Bravo was to bring up the fifty partnership (off only 57 balls) in the second over after tea with an uppish back foot slash through the gully region. It was a repeat of that shot that almost proved to be Bravo’s downfall three balls later. He went hard at the ball again and Collingwood produced a magnificent one handed catch, diving low to his right. However, the umpires conferred and came to the conclusion the ball must have touched the ground at some point. A brave decision without employing the third umpire, but more than likely the correct one, despite the England players not appearing to agree with the outcome.

Bravo played positively, not allowing the situation of the game to sway him from playing his natural way.

On 49 and with with the new ball imminent, Bravo was to fall, Panesar once again England’s wicket taker. The Trinidadian thrust forward and got an inside edge onto his pad and enabled Cook to take his second catch under the helmet.

Panesar had taken some pace off his bowling in the evening session, opting to throw the ball up a touch more above the batters eye line. During his earlier spells he was bowling rather flat, around 56-58 mph, and now he had decided to reduce it towards the 50 mph mark.

The new ball produced an early, yet difficult chance when Denesh Ramdin flicked Sidebottom down the leg side, but the diving Matt Prior was unable to hang on.

Ramdin provided more than useful support for Chanderpaul, as they saw West Indies through to the close of play. It promises to be an intriguing final day at Old Trafford, and with the pitch still playing well the West Indies will fancy their chances, providing Chanderpaul can stick around.

England will naturally back their bowlers to complete the job, Harmison bowled much better today, and Sidebottom who was a surprise inclusion at Headingley has only enhanced his reputation since returning to the international fold. Panesar will once again be a threat, targeting the footholds and exploiting any gremlins that may appear, in what has been a wonderful Test wicket. Liam Plunkett was perhaps the one bowler that did not get it right again, and will no doubt seek out more sessions with England’s bowling advisor Allan Donald.

England 370
Ian Bell 97, Alastair Cook 60
Corey Collymore 3-60, Fidel Edwards 3-94

West Indies 229
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 50, Devon Smith 40
Monty Panesar 4-50, Ryan Sidebottom 3-48

England 313
Alastair Cook 106, Kevin Pietersen 68
Darren Sammy 7-66, Dwayne Bravo 1-14

West Indies 301-5
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 81*, Runako Morton 54, Dwayne Bravo 49, Denesh Ramdin 26*
Monty Panesar 3-87, Steve Harmison 2-70