Windies fight against rising tide

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Chester-le-Street, 4th day

The Bulletin by Shwe Wai

West Indies 310 (Sarwan 100, Anderson 5-87) and 115 for 3 (Chanderpaul 18*, Simmons 3*) trail England 569 for 6 dec (Cook 160, Bopara 108) by 144 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

	Stuart Broad produced a superb over to remove Ramnaresh Sarwan for 100 and push West Indies towards the follow-on

England closed in on a 2-0 series clean sweep on the fourth day against West Indies at Chester-le-Street, as West Indies slumped to 115 for 3 in their second innings, having been asked to follow on, 266 runs in arrears, shortly after tea. By the close, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Lendl Simmons were fighting hard to stave off the innings defeat, but their hopes of the draw were dealt a huge blow when their first-innings centurion, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and their captain, Chris Gayle, were dismissed in the space of three deliveries from Graham Onions - Gayle having rampaged to 54 from 43 balls in an innings of massive intent.

Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreline, England were made to fight hard on what was comfortably the most entertaining day of the series so far. In addition to Sarwan and Gayle, West Indies' stand-out batsman was Denesh Ramdin, whose 55 from 82 balls helped rescue his side from a flaky 216 for 7 in the first innings, the bulk of those runs coming during a sparky eighth-wicket partnership of 70 with Sulieman Benn. For England, James Anderson wrapped up a richly deserved five-wicket haul, but their main man of the day was Stuart Broad, who bowled with thuggish intent and set England on course for victory with the pre-lunch scalps of Chanderpaul and Sarwan

Up until the moment that Broad had Chanderpaul caught behind for 27 with a well-disguised offcutter, England had toiled with little luck or reward for an hour and a half of the morning session. Under clear blue skies, West Indies' fourth-wicket pair extended their partnership to 99, with the only real moment of discomfort coming when Sarwan, on 58, was struck a painful blow in the nether-regions. He upped his ante after Chanderpaul's departure, however, and rushed to his hundred with a blazing straight drive off Broad followed by a cracking pull in front of square.

But those strokes merely stoked Broad's ire, and in a brilliant response he blasted Sarwan from the crease with a trio of vicious lifters, the third of which ballooned off his glove to Tim Bresnan at slip as he attempted to ride the bounce. England were jubilant, an opening had been forged, and when lunch was taken ten minutes later, West Indies were rocking on 188 for 5.