Windies hit back at Lord's

Cricket365
May 21, 2012

England will be left scratching their heads after the West Indies mounted an incredible turnaround on day four of the first Test to leave the hosts two down and still needing 181 runs to win.

England will be left scratching their heads after the West Indies mounted an incredible turnaround on day four of the first Test to leave the hosts two down and still needing 181 runs to win.
Early thoughts at Lord's would have been of England wrapping up proceedings within the morning's session – after all, despite some late resistance, second innings wickets had come with ease.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels certainly had other ideas.
The duo defied England throughout the morning session with some dogged defence that heralded few chances for Andrew Strauss' frustrated men. While the edge of Samuels' bat was found with the first ball of the day, the pair offered little in terms of the gifts the English bowlers had become accustomed to.
Unhappy with the condition of the ball, Strauss seemed of the opinion that hurrying the arrival of the second new ball was the best thing to do and he and his bowlers proceeded to do just that.
All the while both Chanderpaul and Samuels had racked up their fifties and looked comfortable against both pace and spin.
Handed the new cherry an over after lunch, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were initially wasteful, failing to make the batsmen play.
Broad would, however, not be denied. Drawing Samuels into the drive with a fuller delivery, the Windies man was glued to the crease and edged to slip for a well played 86.
It was spin that would deny Chanderpaul (91) his chance to add his name to the Lord's honours board, with the left-hander adjudged lbw as he went for one sweep too many against Graeme Swann. Chanderpaul spent more than 10 hours at the crease across the West Indies' two innings, and without his determination, the game would long be over.
Denesh Ramdin (43) and a swashbuckling Darren Sammy (37 off 47) did their bit to push the total to 345, leaving their hosts a target of 191 for victory.
Broad was once again the most successful of the England bowlers, following up his first innings haul of seven for 72 with figures of four for 93.
If the day had not been frustrating enough for England already, their batsmen were forced to endure a tricky 18-minute spell before the close of play. Ultimately, tricky didn't quite do it justice.
After his hundred in the first innings, Strauss (1) was caught at gully after being squared up by a fierce delivery from Kemar Roach.
James Anderson came in to ensure that no further damage was done to the top order, but he lasted only five balls as he was caught behind down the leg side off Roach's bowling.
There was almost more drama as Jonathan Trott survived the closest of lbw reviews first up, with the Warwickshire man shuffling just sufficiently outside off to avoid being dismissed.
When the day was finally done and dusted, England were stuttering on 10 for two, with 181 runs still needed to win.