June 18: It was the ever reliable Chanderpaul who once again rescued Windies to come out of the deep pressure at Chester-Le-Street. The left hander carried on his good form at Old Trafford and scored his second successive century of the series and 16 th in all to help his team reach a total of 287.
England were in a bit of a bother at the stumps on day three losing three of their total four wickets in last seventeen deliveries, with score reading 121 for 4. But Andrew Strauss, looking good was still at the crease with the series-best 72 not out.
For Windies Fidel Edwards staggered England batsman taking three crucial wickets in seven overs conceding 40 runs as West Indies took charge of the fourth and final Test at the Riverside on Sunday.
His wickets included England opener, Cook edging to the wicket keeper; skipper Micheal Vaughan edging to Bravo at the second slip and an all important wicket of Kevin Pietersen who was out for naught to the last ball of the day, caught behind after under-edging a pull.
Earlier West Indies resumed the play on 132 for four with Chanderpaul unbeaten on 44 and Bravo 43 not out after rain had washed out Friday's first day before bad weather meant only three hours play was possible on Saturday.
Chanderpaul once more steered the Windies ship and remained unbeaten in his second consecutive innings on 136. He now has gone 13 hours and 24 minutes without being dismissed, proving his peak form. Prior to century in the second innings at Old Trafford he made 50 in the first innings and also hit 74 in the drawn first Test at Lord's.
With West Indies struggling at 55 for 4, Chanderpaul brought up a recovery stand of 86 runs with Bravo (44) and latter frustrated England with the last wicket partnership of 58 runs with Collymore, who was the last man out falling lbw to left-arm spinner Monty Panesar for 13. However Chanderpaul was once more left stranded at the non striking end with none of his batsmen coming up with something substantial.
Chanderpaul had his share of luck when he was dropped on nine by Ian Bell at third slip. He had some nervous moments in his 90’s with six short of a hundred when Daren Powell irresponsibly tried to hook fast bowler Stephen Harmison and skied a catch to wicket-keeper Matthew Prior. An edged drive over the slips for four against Harmison, took him to 98 and next ball, trying to pull Harmison, Chanderpaul was hit on his unprotected left arm. The 32-year-old was still on 98 when Edwards was bowled by Sidebottom, leaving West Indies 229 for nine.
But after having survived some testing deliveries from Harmison, Guyana's Chanderpaul cut a loose one for four to complete a 176-ball hundred in nearly five hours with 14 boundaries.
For England the emerging left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom took five for 88, his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
West Indies now must be hoping for a stable weather on day four to wipe of the remaining 6 English wickets as soon as possible and to put a better performance from there onwards to regain some pride in the series. England already have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
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