CRICKET FIFTH TEST – WEST INDIES v ENGLANDCAPTAIN ANDREW Strauss struck his 17th Test hundred at Queen's Park Oval to enhance England's hopes of levelling the series against West Indies.
Strauss oversaw an opening day grind to 258 for two on a slow pitch against some negative tactics from West Indies, who fielded just three frontline bowlers and drafted in an extra batsman in a bid to avoid defeat.
He finished unbeaten on 139, his third century in as many Tests, a sequence which emulated Ian Bell’s feat against Pakistan during the summer of 2006.
This latest effort arrived after four hours 20 minutes at the crease when he steered a delivery from opposite number Chris Gayle into the off-side and scampered through for a single.
That was during an ongoing 102-run stand with Paul Collingwood as the tourists toddled along at a sedate pace on a sluggish surface.
Both men provided scoring bursts to boost an otherwise sagging run rate, particularly Collingwood in the first half of his unbeaten half-century, which came from 108 balls shortly before the close.
They lost Kevin Pietersen on the stroke of tea in a drama-filled middle session which also saw Owais Shah retire hurt with severe cramp in his hands.
Despite only batting for a little over two and a half hours, Shah struggled to grip the bat and in an echo of his Test debut in Mumbai three years ago could not continue.
He departed unbeaten on 29, in a score of 133 for one, and the change over livened the previously monotonous proceedings.
Pietersen, playing in his 50th Test, was struck on the pad third ball by medium pacer Brendan Nash and adjudged leg before wicket by Zimbabwean umpire Russell Tiffin.
However, the 28-year-old former captain greeted the decision with a giggle and after consultation with his successor Strauss opted for a referral.
Television replays highlighted that the ball had pitched way outside leg-stump but, to add to the farce, the lines of communication between the on-field officials and third umpire Aleem Dar were down.
So it took Dar to gesticulate from the stand adjacent to his television booth that the decision should be overturned.
But Pietersen’s stay did not last long and he perished for just 10, bowled through the gate by left-arm spinner Ryan Hinds.
But Strauss, who entered the final session on 95 and survived a West Indian umpire review challenge for a lbw shout made by Daren Powell immediately upon resumption, ploughed on past the 500-run mark for the series.
His willingness to improvise against the spinners and a clinical response to bad balls helped boost an otherwise under-par scoring rate after winning the toss and choosing to extend England’s sequence of batting first in all five matches. It was made into a turgid affair by West Indies’ contentment on playing for a draw which would secure their first Test series win for five years.
To emphasise their conservatism, left-armer Nash, a man who entered the contest with one Test wicket to his name, was on as early as the 20th over and operated to a ring field, with wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin up to the stumps.
