CRICKET: Graham Thorpe hit a memorable century yesterday to inspire a determined and gutsy England fightback in an enthralling third Test at the Kensington Oval.
Thorpe's ton followed his superb 90 in the previous Test which helped the tourists complete a seven-wicket victory. More significantly it helped the tourists recover to reach 226 all out - a lead of two - on the second day after the West Indies produced their best bowling display of the series.
Resuming overnight on 20 for one in reply to the hosts' modest total of 224, the tourists had expected to weather an early onslaught from fast bowling duo Fidel Edwards and Tino Best.
And the tourists, hoping to establish a healthy first-innings advantage, were left reeling after a stunning bowling display left them facing a major deficit as they slumped to 155 for eight.
But Thorpe - aided for more than an hour by Simon Jones in adding 32 crucial runs - completed his 13th Test century with his 11th boundary by hitting Edwards down the ground to prompt a standing ovation from a crowd packed with English support.
The Surrey left-hander had provided the key to England's fortunes from the moment they lost two wickets in the first 10 overs of the day. And he then watched steadily as the four-strong seam attack made further inroads into the batting line-up.
England had been given an early warning of West Indies' threat with captain Michael Vaughan being dropped off the third over of the day after he pushed at a full-length Best delivery - only for Ramnaresh Sarwan to spill the chance at second slip.
It was a warning which was not heeded with Mark Butcher playing an almost identical shot in the next over to Edwards - and this time Chris Gayle accepted the regulation catch at first slip.
Vaughan's innings came to a halt when, after being unsettled by two lbw appeals in the same over, attempted to cut loose by pulling the next delivery - and the ball looped into the gloves of wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs.
That left 36-year-old Hussain and 34-year-old Thorpe, the two most experienced members of England's line-up, with the responsibility of rebuilding the innings as they did so successfully during the previous Test victory in Trinidad.
This time, though, they were not to be so successful and Hussain fell just three overs before the interval with Corey Collymore knocking back his leg stump with a straight delivery which found the gap between bat and pad.
England at least had hope of mounting a recovery while Thorpe was at the crease while all-rounder Andrew Flintoff provided encouraging support during a 25-run stand either side of lunchdespite Best's efforts to unsettle both batsmen with a variety of bouncers.
WEST INDIES - First Innings:
C H Gayle lbw b Hoggard 6
D Ganga lbw b Harmison 11
B C Lara c Butcher b Flintoff 36
R R Sarwan c Flintoff b Harmison 63
S Chanderpaul c Thorpe b Flintoff 50
R O Hinds c Jones b Harmison 5
R D Jacobs c sub b Flintoff 6
T L Best c Butcher b Flintoff 17
P T Collins c Trescothick b Jones 7
C D Collymore not out 1
F H Edwards c Read b Flintoff 0
Extras lb14 w1 nb7 pens 0 22
Total (75.2 overs) 224
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-20, 3-88, 4-167, 5-179, 6-197, 7-198, 8-208, 9-224.
Bowling: Hoggard 16-5-34-1; Harmison 18-6-42-3; Flintoff 16.2-2-58-5; Jones 16-1-55-1; Giles 9-1-21-0.
ENGLAND - First Innings
M E Trescothick b Edwards 2
M P Vaughan c Jacobs b Edwards 17
M A Butcher c Gayle b Edwards 5
N Hussain b Collymore 17
G P Thorpe not out 71
A Flintoff c Collymore b Best 15
C M W Read lbw b Edwards 13
A F Giles c Sub b Collins 11
M J Hoggard lbw b Collins 0
S P Jones c Sarwan b Best 4
S J Harmison b Collins 3
Extras lb5 w3 nb12 20
Total (90 overs) ... 226
Fall: 1-8 2-24 3-33 4-65 5-90 6-119 7-147 8-155 9-187
Bowling: Edwards 20 4 70 4; Collins 23 6 60 3; Collymore 16 3 26 1; Hinds 4 1 7 0; Best 14 4 26 2; Gayle 13 3 32 0.
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