LONDON, (Reuters) – West Indies took inspiration from another defiant innings by Shivnarine Chanderpaul to set up the chance of an unlikely victory in the first test against England at Lord’s today.
The talismanic left-hander made 91 and Marlon Samuels hit 86 to lift the touring side to a second-innings total of 345 and England, needing 191 to win, lost captain Andrew Strauss as they stumbled to 10 for two in the evening gloom on the fourth day.
Chanderpaul was lbw to off-spinner Graeme Swann shortly before tea, ending a knock lasting 383 minutes in which the limpet-like left-hander was at his tenacious best.
“He is unique in the way he plays and he’s number one in the world so it’s always nice to get him out,” Swann told a news conference. “He batted superbly but we stuck to our guns.
“It was unfortunate to lose the skipper but it was always going to be a tricky 15 minutes to bat in the gloom. We are still very confident, the wicket is a very good one for batting.”
West Indies coach Ottis Gibson was pleased with the application shown by his batsmen.
“The batting gave us a lot of heart,” he said. “It was good to see the experienced guys taking responsibility. Two wickets tonight has given us hope for tomorrow and we will be coming back to make them fight very hard for a win.”
England’s bowlers toiled without success under grey skies in the morning, frustrated by the dogged Chanderpaul and Samuels who eschewed his normal aggressive style to provide solid support for his more experienced partner.
INSIDE EDGE
Samuels was first to reach his fifty, made from 97 balls and including seven fours, and Chanderpaul passed the half-century mark with an inside edge for four off Tim Bresnan.
The hosts finally ended a fifth-wicket partnership of 157 with the second new ball when Stuart Broad tempted Samuels into an indecisive prod and he edged a regulation catch to Swann at second slip.
Chanderpaul, who made an unbeaten 87 in the first innings, ground relentlessly on towards his 26th test century, however, and Denesh Ramdin proved a good foil.
But Swann struck with the first ball of his third spell, striking Chanderpaul on the pad as he tried to sweep and although the batsman appealed against the umpire’s decision, television replays showed the ball would have hit his leg stump.
Chanderpaul faced 250 balls and hit 10 fours but West Indies for once continued to resist strongly after his departure.
Captain Darren Sammy threw his bat in a breezy knock of 37 before he edged a catch to wicketkeeper Matt Prior to give Broad his 10th wicket of the match and Kemar Roach drove the same bowler high to Ian Bell at cover.
Ramdin stuck around for nearly three hours, hitting three fours before he was clean bowled by James Anderson for 43 and last pair Fidel Edwards and Shannon Gabriel added a useful 20 runs before the latter was bowled by Swann for 13.
Broad finished with four for 93 and test-best match figures of 11 for 165.
Strauss, who scored 122 in the first innings, fended a short lifting delivery from Roach to Kieran Powell in the gully and nightwatchman Anderson also perished, nicking a catch to Ramdin off the fiery Roach down the leg-side.
Jonathan Trott survived a huge shout for lbw first ball but he and Alastair Cook survived and both batsmen will resume on nought in the morning.
