CRICKET ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, FIRST TEST:THE WEST Indies suffered yesterday afternoon as England extended their first innings from 289 overnight to 377.
For the latter part of the day it was processional, a consistent stream of dejected cricketers trooping back to the dressingroom as wickets fell like autumn leaves.
At one stage, while rattling along at almost a run a ball, they had reached the satisfactory heights of 99 for two wickets to Stuart Broad. Fewer than 13 overs later, after barely an hour’s cricket, they had lost a further eight wickets for 53 to be all out for 152, with Graham Onions, on his debut, overcoming a few understandable nerves to produce a remarkable burst that brought him five wickets in 27 deliveries after tea including three in one over and four in seven balls.
When, after the initial surprise of Broad rather than James Anderson taking the opening over, Chris Gayle and Devon Smith faced up to the second over of the innings, they found not Anderson nor either of the debutant seamers, but Graeme Swann with his off-breaks.
Swann’s return 16 overs later, shortly before tea, made more impact when successive deliveries accounted for Smith and the immovable Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with the wicket of Brendan Nash added after the interval for good measure.
Swann had caroused his way to an excellent unbeaten 63, and then took a couple of decent catches in the slip cordon as well.
With a lead of 225, three and a half days still to play, conditions remaining inhospitable (more so in fact for there was more bounce yesterday) and bowlers relatively fresh, there was no option but for Strauss to enforce the follow-on.
Edwards, who had finished bowling with 6 for 92, will not be batting out this match. Instead, if the weather holds, West Indies face defeat today.
Anderson, who had been clattered a ferocious blow on the head by Edwards while batting and went wicketless, got in on the act second time around. Gayle, having dragged on to his stumps in the first innings, edged low to third slip without scoring and ambled off.
When Anderson forced Ramnaresh Sarwan to chop on to his stumps, the winter thorn in England’s flesh had gone cheaply for the second time in a day. Smith and Lendl Simmons saw West Indies to a close that came early because of bad light but at 39 for two, 186 runs shy still of an innings defeat, they are in the deepest of trouble with no apparent way out.
And so to Onions, a sinewy and rather feisty bowler of considerable pace who gets in close to the stumps, accentuating any movement and hits the deck hard extracting good bounce. It was this bounce that brought him his first wicket, a snorter that Simmons could only fend high to first slip for Strauss to take another of the fine catches that England held.
The adrenaline flowed. Jerome Taylor flailed down the legside and presented a simple catch to the keeper and Benn was superbly caught at third slip by Swann. Denesh Ramdin was lbw to the next ball and after the hat-trick was avoided and the raising of the umpire’s finger signalled the end of Lionel Baker’s innings.
Much earlier Ravi Bopara, who had preceded him there on the first day, was finally out for 143.
Guardian Service
Scoreboard England v West Indies
ENGLAND FIRST INNINGS (289-7 overnight)
A Strauss c Ramdin b Taylor 16
A Cook b Edwards 35
R Bopara c Nash b Taylor 143
K Pietersen c Ramdin b Edwards 0
P Collingwood c Smith b Edwards 8
M Prior c Simmons b Edwards 42
S Broad c Taylor b Benn 38
T Bresnan lbw b Benn 9
G Swann not out 63
J Anderson c Ramdin b Edwards 1
G Onions b Edwards 0
Extras (b-1, lb-5, w-7, nb-9) 22
___
TOTAL(all out; 111.3 overs) 377
Fall of wickets:1-28 2-92 3-92 4-109 5-193 6-262 7-275 8-368 9-377 10-377.
Bowling: Taylor 24-2-83-2 (2nb, 1w), Edwards 26.3-4-92-6 (7nb, 1w), Baker 24-5-75-0 (2w), Benn 27-4-84-2, Nash 2-1-2-0, Simmons 5-1-24-0 (3w), Gayle 3-0-11-0.
WEST INDIES FIRST INNINGS
C Gayle b Broad 28
D Smith b Swann 46
R Sarwan c Prior b Broad 13
L Simmons c Strauss b Onions 16
S Chanderpaul c Collingwood b Swann 0
B Nash c Collingwood b Swann 4
D Ramdin lbw b Onions 5
J Taylor c Prior b Onions 0
S Benn c Swann b Onions 2
F Edwards not out 11
L Baker lbw b Onions 17
Extras (lb-9, w-1) 10
____
TOTAL(all out; 32.3 overs) 152
Fall of wickets:1-46 2-70 3-99 4-99 5-117 6-117 7-117 8-119 9-128.
Bowling: Broad 11-0-57-2, Swann 5-2-16-3, Anderson 7-0-32-0 (1w), Onions 9.3-1-38-5.
WEST INDIES SECOND INNINGS
C Gayle c Swann b Anderson 0
D Smith not out 26
R Sarwan b Anderson 1
L Simmons not out 7
Extras (lb-5) 5
___
TOTAL(two wickets; 13 overs) 39
Fall of wickets:1-14 2-22.
Bowling:Anderson 6-2-22-2, Broad 5-1-9-0, Swann 1-0-1-0, Bresnan 1-0-2-0.
