NOTTINGHAM, England, CMC – A sterling, unbeaten half-century from Marlon Samuels failed to brighten the gloom of another defeat as West Indies predictably plunged to a nine-wicket loss to England in the second Test at Trent Bridge here yesterday.
The right-hander shone brightly with 76, an innings that carried West Indies from their precarious overnight score of 61 for six to 165 all out, half-hour after lunch on the fourth day.
Fast bowlers Tim Bresnan picked up four for 37 while fellow pacer Jimmy Anderson claimed four for 43, to clinically finish of the Windies innings.
Set a target of 108, England coasted to victory, 32 minutes after tea to secure a winning 2-0 lead in the three-Test series and keep their grip on the cherished Wisden Trophy.
Captain Andrew Strauss top-scored with 45 before perishing with victory in sight, while his opening partner Alistair Cook finished unbeaten on 43.
West Indies have now lost 17 of their last 20 Tests against the current World number one and more strikingly, have not won a Test in England in 12 years.
They were always poised to extend this unenviable record starting the day only three runs ahead, and Samuels and captain Darren Sammy defied England for the first hour before being separated.
The pair put on 49 for the seventh wicket with Sammy, who started the day on nought, scoring 25 from 49 balls in 73 minutes at the crease.
Samuels was outstanding in an innings which consumed 160 balls, lasted six minutes shy of four hours and included nine fours and two sixes.
Despite the crisis, the 31-year-old Jamaican played positively, collecting two attractive leg-side boundaries early on which were complemented by two spanking cover drives off Anderson and seamer Stuart Broad respectively.
Like he did in the first innings, Sammy stroked the ball confidently and his three fours were robust off-side shots.
He was first to fall just after the first hour’s play at 110 for seven, lbw to Bresnan playing back to one that a subsequent review showed was just clipping the top of the bails, and the original out decision remained.
Samuels and Kemar Roach (14) then added a further 29 for the eighth wicket, with Roach collecting three fours off Broad in the bowler’s 17th over as West Indies resisted stoutly.
Samuels had just reached his 15th Test fifty when Roach walked across his stumps to Anderson two balls later and was lbw on review, ten minutes before lunch.
Shane Shillingford fell in the fifth over on resumption, caught at slip by Jimmy Anderson off off-spinner Graeme Swann with seven runs added to the interval score of 141 for eight.
Samuels then chanced his arm, lifting Swann for straight sixes in the bowler’s next over which cost 16 runs, before Ravi Rampaul edged the fifth ball he faced to Bresnan at third slip off Anderson, to depart without scoring as the innings closed.
Unfettered, England coasted to 74 without loss at tea, with Strauss and Cook surviving disciplined opening spells from the new ball pair of Roach and Rampaul.
The closest West Indies came to a breakthrough was when Strauss nicked medium pacer Sammy between wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin and first slip for four, when he had reached 34.
He faced 72 balls and struck seven fours before driving part-time off-spinner Samuels to Darren Bravo at cover with the score on 89, 12 minutes after tea.
Cook, however, who hit three fours off 86 balls, saw England home along with Jonathan Trott, unbeaten on 17.
Scoreboard
Scoreboard on the fourth day of the second Test between England and West Indies at Trent Bridge yesterday:
WEST INDIES 1st innings 370
ENGLAND 1st innings 428
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings
(overnight 61 for six)
A Barath lbw b Anderson 7
K Powell b Anderson 1
D Bravo lbw b Bresnan 22
S Chanderpaul c Trott b Broad 11
M Samuels not out 76
+D Ramdin lbw b Bresnan 6
K Edwards lbw b Bresnan 0
*D Sammy lbw b Bresnan 25
K Roach lbw b Anderson 7
S Shillingford c Anderson b Swann 0
R Rampaul c Bresnan b Anderson 0
Extras (b1, lb2) 3
TOTAL (all out, 60.1 overs) 61
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Powell), 2-14 (Barath), 3-31 (Chanderpaul), 4-45 (Bravo), 5-61 (Ramdin), 6-61 (Edwards), 7-110 (Sammy), 8-139 (Roach), 9-148 (Shillingford), 10-165 (Rampaul).
Bowling: Anderson 20.1-6-43-4, Broad 17-5-58-1, Swann 6-1-24-1, Bresnan 17-5-37-4.
ENGLAND 2nd Innings
A Strauss c Bravo b Samuels 45
A Cook not out 43
J Trott not out 17
Extras ((b5, nb1) 6
TOTAL (1 wkt, 30.4 overs) 111
Fall of wicket: 1-89 (Strauss).
Bowling: Roach 5-2-16-0, Rampaul 6-2-12-0, Sammy 6-2-32-0, Samuels 5.4-0-18-1, Shillingford 8-1-28-0.
Result: England won by nine wickets.
Series: England take 2-0 winning lead in three-match series.
Man-of-the-Match: Tim Bresnan.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Asad Rauf; TV – Marais Erasmus.
