England almost there
Afp, Chester-Le-Street
Monty Panesar took five wickets, including West Indies marathon man Shivnarine Chanderpaul, as England neared victory in the fourth and final Test on the last day at Riverside here Tuesday.At tea, England -- looking to finish the series as 3-0 winners -- were 24 for one, needing a further 86 runs to reach their victory target of 110. Andrew Strauss was 10 not out and England captain Michael Vaughan five not out after Alastair Cook edged Daren Powell to Dwayne Bravo at second slip. Earlier, left-arm spinner Panesar took five for 46, the sixth time he had taken five or more wickets in a Test innings, in West Indies' 222. Chanderpaul, who had batted for over 17 hours since last being dismissed this series, was last man out for 70, bowled sweeping against Panesar. The Guyanese left-hander ended the series with an average of 148.66 but rarely received the support his batting endurance deserved. At lunch West Indies were 131 for four, a lead of just 18, with Chanderpaul 32 not out and all-rounder Bravo unbeaten on 19. Bravo, not a naturally defensive player, decided to take the attack to England and when Panesar came on, in the seventh over after lunch, he lofted him back over his head for four. But next ball, trying to drive Panesar down the ground, Bravo holed out to Ryan Sidebottom at mid-off. Bravo's 43 featured nine boundaries and he put on 68 with Chanderpaul. But West Indies were now only 49 in front with five wickets left. Their position worsened when Marlon Samuels (two) was undone by a sharply-spinning Panesar delivery and edged to Paul Collingwood at first slip. That left West Indies, without a win in their 19 previous Tests, 169 for six. Panesar struck again when Denesh Ramdin (four) was bowled by a delivery that pitched on middle and hit off-stump. Chanderpaul completed his fifty in 127 balls with three fours. It was his fifth successive fifty of the series after he made 74 in the drawn opener at Lord's, 50 and 116 not out in England's 60-run third Test win at Old Trafford and 136 not out in the first innings of this match. Significantly, he missed West Indies innings and 283-run defeat, their heaviest innings loss in Test cricket, in the third Test at Headingley with a knee injury. Fast bowler Stephen Harmison, on his Durham home ground, then struck twice when Powell, for the second time in the match, irresponsibly holing out before Fidel Edwards's off-stump was uprooted. Harmison bowled at sharp pace after the England and Wales Cricket Board announced Tuesday he would have to undergo surgery for a "non-serious hernia". Panesar wrapped up the innings to leave England with 54 overs to get the runs they needed at a rate of under three an over. West Indies resumed Tuesday on 83 for three, still 30 runs behind. Chris Gayle was 52 not out and Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 16. Gayle exited for his overnight score, the opener's best of the series, when he drove loosely outside off-stump against Matthew Hoggard (three for 28) and edged to wicketkeeper Matthew Prior. England, who'd been in trouble at 165 for six, saw Durham all-rounder Collingwood score 128 in their first innings 400. Together with Prior (62), he put on 169 for the seventh wicket. West Indies' first innings had also featured a lower-order recovery after they'd collapsed to 55 for four. Chanderpaul and Bravo (44) added 86 for the fifth wicket in a total of 287.
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