Ravi Bopara struck a maiden international hundred as England gained control of the fourth Test against the West Indies with their highest score for five-and-a-half years at Kensington Oval.

Bopara celebrated his recall after more than 12 months out of the side by following captain Andrew Strauss to three figures.

He was the last batsman to fall in a score of 600 for six declared, four fewer than England managed in victory over South Africa at the Brit Oval in September 2003.

It was a display of extreme positivity from the tourists, who rattled up 299 runs in just 63.2 overs on the second day.

Paul Collingwood agonisingly fell for 96 while Tim Ambrose, like Bopara another player returning after a lengthy absence, finished unbeaten on 76.

There was also a significant blow made with the new ball before the close as West Indies captain Chris Gayle became a victim of the referral system being trialled in this series.

Although umpire Russell Tiffin turned down huge appeals for leg before wicket when James Anderson produced an inswinger which defeated Gayle to ping into the pads, Strauss opted to challenge the decision upon the enthusiasm of wicketkeeper Ambrose.

Television umpire Daryl Harper's advice after reviewing the incident - replays showed the ball to be pitching on leg stump rather than outside - persuaded Tiffin to reverse his original decision.

But it was the only success in another bat-dominated contest and West Indies closed on 85 for one.

Although England attacked with vigour after winning the toss yesterday, they were given a leg-up by West Indies' sloppiness in the field.

Bopara was finally caught in the deep by Jerome Taylor hooking fast bowler Fidel Edwards, after he had escaped exactly 100 runs earlier when the same fielder missed a chance.

Ambrose, in the side due to Matt Prior's absence for paternity leave, was also given a life on nought by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin when he edged a cut at left-arm spinner Ryan Hinds.

The sixth-wicket pair shared 113 in just 22 overs to inflict further frustration on a home side clinging desperately to a 1-0 lead in the penultimate match of the series.

Bopara followed his hundred in the two-day warm-up match last weekend with this more significant contribution and produced a Usain Bolt-style celebration in response.

It was Collingwood who launched England out of the blocks in an afternoon session which reaped 148 runs, however.

In just the second over after lunch, he beat cover boundary sweeper Brendan Nash on either side with drives off Daren Powell.

He also blasted Nash's medium pace down the ground for two more fours to step up the tempo.

Collingwood holed out to deep point off fast bowler Edwards, attempting to hit a boundary to bring up his ninth Test hundred.

Opener Alastair Cook succumbed for 94 yesterday and Collingwood stood aghast before trudging off for 96 midway through the day's play.

His fifth-wicket partner Bopara, drafted into this match in place of the injured Andrew Flintoff less than a week after arriving from New Zealand, justified selection ahead of Ian Bell with bravado against the short ball.

Ambrose took full advantage of his let-off by twice carting Hinds into the stands during a 65-ball fifty.

Bopara got off the mark first ball to end his personal Test trot of three consecutive ducks.

He was not put off taking on the short stuff either, and twice found the boundary behind square on the leg side with cross-bat shots early in his innings.

Bopara remained the number one target of a bouncer barrage and he responded emphatically to one from Edwards at the start of the second hour by clearing the man on the deep square-leg boundary.

Edwards, who kept up an astonishing intensity throughout a nine-over spell from the Malcolm Marshall End, landed a blow of his own, however, when he cracked the grille of Bopara's helmet, and forced the England man to undergo medical checks on the field.

Resuming on 301 for three this morning, it was perhaps a day set up for Kevin Pietersen.

But he was the one departure before lunch, via a failed referral.

Pietersen, England's premier batsman, opted to make the first umpiring challenge of the match in the 95th over when the fiery Edwards struck him on the pads and Zimbabwean official Tiffin answered home appeals in the affirmative.

Having clipped the previous delivery through the on side for four to move to 41, an attempted repeat of the stroke proved fatal and the only doubt on the decision appeared to be in Pietersen's mind.

It appeared plumb with the naked eye and television umpire Daryl Harper was left with a straightforward task after replays suggested the ball would have gone on to hit the top of middle stump.