England vs West Indies Discussion Thread

THIRD NPOWER TEST, OLD TRAFFORD, day two:
England 370 v West Indies 153-3 (tea)

England reduced West Indies to 153-3 in reply to their 370 despite a wildly inconsistent bowling display on day two of the third Test at Old Trafford.

Pacemen Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett sprayed the ball all over but were responsible for the successes.

Harmison had Daren Ganga lbw and had Runako Morton caught at slip, while Chris Gayle drove Plunkett to point.

Earlier, Ian Bell fell three short of his century but England eked out 74 vital runs after resuming on 296-7.

Edit:

end of day said:

Third Test, Old Trafford, day two (close): England 370 & 34-1 v West Indies 229

Monty Panesar took four wickets as West Indies collapsed spectacularly
Panesar took advantage as the Windies collapsed feebly

Monty Panesar and Ryan Sidebottom put England in charge of the third Test against West Indies on a bizarre day.

There was no hint of the chaos to come when Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett produced a wildly erratic display.

But Panesar took 4-50 and Sidebottom 3-48 as the Windies slumped from 216-4 to 229 all out within 44 deliveries.

England led by 141 after Ian Bell had hit 97 in their first-innings 370, and added 34 for the loss of Andrew Strauss for a duck to lead by 175 at stumps.

But the main talking points were the way a weak Windies side capitulated against Sidebottom and Panesar, and another worrying performance from Harmison and Plunkett.

The Durham duo looked devoid of confidence as they sent down a succession of wayward deliveries which had keeper Matt Prior diving around, particularly down the leg-side.

The lively Old Trafford surface was tailor-made for Harmison in particular but too often he failed to get the ball in the right areas to exploit the help on offer.

When he did, Daren Ganga was pinned lbw in front and the aggressive Runako Morton was forced to fend a snorter to first slip.

Chris Gayle's attempt to slash Plunkett away, which was snaffled at backward point, was more symptomatic of poor application than any snakes in the pitch.

Steve Harmison again looked devoid of confidence and control
Harmison again looked devoid of confidence and control

And Devon Smith (40) looked comfortable against the seamers and spinner Panesar until he drove the left-armer into his heel and Bell pouched the rebound at silly-point.

That made it 157-4 and England had a window of opportunity they scarcely deserved but Chanderpaul and Bravo set about some more indifferent bowling to rally their team.

Chanderpaul's majestic cut shot off Panesar and wristy flick off Plunkett showed he was a man in prime form, while Bravo was no slouch at the other end in a stand of 59.

However, when Sidebottom found the edge of Bravo's bat the Windies went into meltdown.

The seamer saw Denesh Ramdin mis-time a pull to square-leg and Chanderpaul drive to cover, while Panesar had Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor and Corey Collymore snapped up at slip.

There was still time for Fidel Edwards to produce a beautiful inswinger to left-hander Strauss and trap him plumb lbw, and Alastair Cook to escape when he looked to have edged Collymore behind.

Earlier, Harmison showed much more application with the bat, surviving several blows on his body and helmet to play some shots and support Bell, only for both to glove brutish deliveries behind.

Sidebottom and Panesar entertained with a 32-run last-wicket stand but it was with the cherry in hand later on that they really did the damage, and England are now overwhelming favourites for a series-clinching victory.

Click to expand...

I couldn't watch much of it today myself because I was outside doing some gardening. I will be catching the highlights later on though

England won the Test series against West Indies 3-0 as a confident final day performance at the Riverside gave them victory by seven wickets.

Monty Panesar finished with 5-46 as West Indies were bowled out for 222, leaving England needing 110 to win.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul's valiant 70 - he was the last man out - was in vain.

England lost wickets either side of tea to be 29-2 but Michael Vaughan hit an unbeaten 48 to get England home with more than 30 overs remaining.

Chanderpaul, who missed the Headingley match with injury, ended the series with 466 runs at a phenomenal average of 148.66.

The gritty left-hander had also batted for five minutes short of 18 hours since his dismissal in the first innings at Old Trafford.

Chanderpaul's achievements left the contest for man of the series a straight fight between him and Panesar, who took 23 wickets in the four Tests.

Play began half an hour late on Tuesday because of drizzle and low cloud.

M Panesar
Monty Panesar was in red-hot form between lunch and tea

Though it was too cold for the ball to swing in the early stages, Matthew Hoggard took an important wicket just 20 minutes into the day.

The Yorkshire seamer slanted a ball across Chris Gayle and the left-hander, who had yet to add to his overnight 52, provided a lazy edge to give wicket-keeper Matt Prior an easy catch.

West Indies then desperately required Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo to at least match their efforts of the first innings, when they put on 86.

England attacked - at one stage, Hoggard had five slips and a gully in place in a bid to remove Bravo.

But the Trinidadian right-hander drove solidly through the on-side for four before Steve Harmison was brought on in a bid to end the partnership.

The local star, on the day it was revealed he would require hernia surgery at some point this year, produced his best bowling of the series.

First Bravo took a ball on the shoulder of the bat which dropped inches short of first slip, then Chanderpaul, on 32, looked very fortunate to survive an lbw shout from Harmison.

West Indies scraped their way to 131-4 at lunch, a lead of 18, but the good work was undone in the middle session.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine Chanderpaul again fought a lone battle for his team

Bravo had begun to experience some joy hooking Harmison, and Chanderpaul was sweeping Panesar for singles at will.

But then, playing one attacking shot too many, Bravo (43) skied an attempted lofted drive off Panesar to mid-off where Ryan Sidebottom took the catch.

The wicket ended a partnership of 68 that had soaked up 20 overs and it was all downhill from there for the tourists.

Two delightful Panesar deliveries from round the wicket - drifting in, pitching on middle and spinning away from the right-handers - were too good for Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin.

Samuels gloved to slip and Ramdin was bowled off-stump.

Then Harmison had Daren Powell playing a ridiculous attempted pull straight up in the air - he had been dismissed in identical circumstances in the first innings.

The next wicket gave the north-east faithful exactly what they wanted to see when Harmison splattered Fidel Edwards' stumps with a fast, straight delivery.

Finally Corey Collymore (16 not out) provided some support, but by now Chanderpaul felt forced to play more adventurously and paid the penalty when Panesar bowled him.

England began their run chase before tea, and the new ball did plenty for Powell and Edwards.

Andrew Strauss looked particularly uneasy. Dropped in the slips on three and 12, he was finally bowled through the gate by Powell.

That wicket left England on 29-2, Alastair Cook having already departed to a slip catch.

Vaughan did not take the mini-setback as a cue for caution, however, and hit some thumping pulls and drives to keep the pressure on the tourists.

Kevin Pietersen (28) took him to within five runs of the winning line before edging Gayle to slip.

And the winning hit was supplied when first innings centurion Paul Collingwood cut Gayle to the point fence for four.

Man-of-the-match Daren Powell took four for 40 as West Indies beat England by 93 runs at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Saturday to clinch the one-day series 2-1.

West Indies, who bowled England out with more than five overs to spare, had set themselves up with a good chance of victory when they amassed 289 for five in their 50 overs, having won the toss and elected to bat first.

Powell had opener Alastair Cook caught by Dwayne Smith at backward point for 18 and talismanic but off-form batsman Kevin Pietersen, out for a duck, caught by Devon Smith in the slips.

He also had Matt Prior caught by keeper Denesh Ramdin for one.




When Ian Bell, batting at number three, was out for 27, caught by Dwayne Smith off Fidel Edwards, Owais Shah and captain Paul Collingwood dug in to try and stop the rot.

However, Dwayne Smith had Shah caught by Ramdin for England's top score of 51 and Collingwood was bowled by Dwayne Bravo for 44, leaving Edwards to help wipe up the tail for a tally of three for 30.

For West Indies, Runako Morton, who was unbeaten, and opener Chris Gayle, who hit eight boundaries, both made 82 while Bravo chipped in with a quick-fire 42 off 24 balls.

England thought they had seriously dented the West Indies challenge when in-form Shivnarine Chanderpaul, declared fit after being doubtful with an ankle injury and batting at number three, was out for 33.

They had not counted, however, on Morton and Bravo's fifth-wicket stand of 92 off 54 balls after poor fielding had handed Gayle and Morton second lives.

Chanderpaul, whose unbeaten century in the second match at Edgbaston in Leeds helped West Indies square the series 1-1 and helped earn him Saturday's vote as man-of-the-series, was caught by Pietersen off Liam Plunkett.

Plunkett, whose first wicket was that of captain Gayle, caught and bowled, also dismissed Marlon Samuels for nine, caught behind by wicketkeeper Prior, for a haul of three for 59, while James Anderson took two for 51

How about that, West Indies win the one-day series. I'd rather win the test series than the one-day series but a win is a win.