His 226, the highest Test score by an England batsman for 17 years, was the centrepiece of the hosts' 570 for seven declared.

At tea, West Indies were 66 for two - still needing a further 305 to avoid the follow-on target of 371 after Ryan Sidebottom had taken his first Test wickets to remove both openers.

Devon Smith was 22 not out and Sylvester Joseph 13 not out.

West Indies' woes were compounded by the absence of captain Ramnaresh Sarwan from his usual No 4 spot after he was ruled unfit to bat following a shoulder injury while fielding Friday.

The tourists were already without senior batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, ruled out of this match with a right knee problem.

Pietersen, who received good support from Matt Prior (75) in a sixth-wicket stand of 160, went to 200 with a two against Chris Gayle, the only spinner in an otherwise unthreatening all right-arm seam attack.

The South Africa-born batsman, fortunate to be stumped off a tight no-ball on 20, then lofted Gayle for six over long-off.

Liam Plunkett eased past his previous Test best of 28 against a tiring attack where pace bowlers Daren Powell, Corey Collymore and Jerome Taylor all conceded more than 100 runs each.

Pietersen, 26, was eventually out when he carved medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo to Taylor at extra-cover, his exit prompting the declaration. In all he'd faced 262 balls in nearly seven hours at the crease with two sixes and 24 fours. Pietersen's was the highest Test score by an England player since Graham Gooch's 333 against India at Lord's in 1990.

Plunkett was 44 not out off 48 balls, having shared a stand of 81 in 12 overs with Pietersen.

Sidebottom, in for the injured Matthew Hoggard, had gone wicketless in his only previous Test against Pakistan at Lord's in 2001.

But the 29-year-old left-arm seamer, who began his career at Headingley with Yorkshire before moving to Nottinghamshire three years ago, had Gayle lbw for 11. The son of Arnie Sidebottom, who played one Test for England in 1985, struck again when Daren Ganga, playing no shot, was lbw for five.

The vice-captain's exit left West Indies in a dire position at 23 for two and at the end of his first spell Sidebottom had taken two for 15 in six overs.

England began Saturday well-placed on 366 for five with Pietersen 130 not out. He's raced to his century Friday in 104 balls. It was his second Test hundred in as many innings after his 109 in the drawn series opener at Lord's.

England's strong position had initially been built around Michael Vaughan's 103, the captain marking his return to Test action after 18 months out injured in style.

Pietersen broke his previous Test best of 158, which curiously he'd achieved three times, when a flashing cut off Taylor sped to the third man boundary.

Together with Prior, whose unbeaten 126 at Lord's saw him become the first England wicketkeeper to score a century on Test debut, posted a hundred stand at a run-a-minute.

Medium-pacer Bravo didn't escape punishment either, Pietersen playing his trademark 'flamingo' shot to whip him from outside off-stump to long-on.

Prior's bold innings ended when he was clean bowled by a Powell delivery that clipped the top of off-stump. He faced 99 balls with nine fours.