Chanderpaul stands between England and victory

Cricket365
May 19, 2012

England made major strides toward securing a big victory over the West Indies, but couldn't quite finish the job inside three days as Shivnarine Chanderpaul refused to go down without a fight at Lord's on Saturday.

The steely left-hander – the cornerstone of many fightbacks during his lengthy 18-year career – moved to 34 not out in a total of 120 for four, which left the Windies trailing by 35 runs.

The visiting pack were convincing with the ball earlier in the day, when they reduced an overnight score of 259 for three to 398 all out. The initial 155-run lead would have read considerably less had Ian Bell not held firm in the middle order and Graeme Swann not weighed in with a late-order cameo.

Andrew Strauss, who on Friday ended an 18-month wait for his 20th Test century, was allowed to add just one more run to his resurgent tally before being caught behind for 122. The England captain didn't walk in the wake of the edge, instead letting the Decision Review System prove leather to willow.

Jonny Bairstow was comfortable on debut, and alongside Bell put on 26 at a rate of more than four to the over for the fifth wicket. The flurry ended, though, when the rookie right-hander was struck on the front pad dead in front of the stumps to give Kemar Roach another victim.

Matt Prior didn't last long, instead castled by Shannon Gabriel to give the beefy seamer his first Test scalp, and Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad let their respective statuses as Test all-rounders down. The right-hander had no answer to Darren Sammy's probing line and length. The left-hander was beaten by Fidel Edwards' pace.

The duo's departure on either side of the tea break left half-centurion Bell and sidekick Swann with some work to do. The Windies attack, meanwhile, too easily went through the motions in anticipation the innings would soon be over.

They were quickly dealt a rude awakening as Bell and Swann put on 55 runs inside eight overs during an aggressive alliance for the ninth wicket. The senior batsman played the role of sheet anchor, the tail-ender tucked into a cavalier 30 from 25 balls, six fours included.

Swann was eventually out on the slog, and Bell soon followed in holing out in the deep to have Gabriel finish with figures of three for 60 on debut. Roach took a back seat with three for 108.

Buoyed by a solid enough comeback with the ball, the Windies were soon hanging their heads in frustration 15 overs into their second innings. Adrian Barath was caught behind for 24, Kieran Powell perished to an effective short ball and Kirk Edwards lost a race to Bairstow's direct-hit from cover point.

Arguably the Windies' most reliable pair, Darren Bravo and Chanderpaul then restored an air of respectability. Scoring runs was not their target, dogged time at the crease certainly was. 17 overs and just 29 runs later, the left-handed Bravo shouldered arms to a quicker delivery from Swann to be bowled.

Back to square one, the visitors looked to Chanderpaul to carry them to the safety of stumps. He did exactly that, surviving a late lbw review in the process. The referral was a late gamble that didn't pay off for England, who know full well the value of the veteran's wicket. Chanderpaul found handy support in Marlon Samuels, who weighed in with a complementary 26 not out.

The duo will need more of the resilient same come Sunday, when the England attack will be chasing a big win inside four days and an additional 24 hours' rest on Monday. Mum Nature and her sodden mood have steered clear of Lord's thus far, but the forecast sees rain closing in. The Windies won't mind that.