Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss fell cheaply to put England in trouble on 56 for two, chasing 231 to win, at lunch on the final day of the third Test against West Indies at Old Trafford yesterday.
Robert Key (19 not out) helped steady the run chase with England looking to clinch the four-match series 3-0.
PHOTO: AFP
Captain Michael Vaughan was also unbeaten on six but was lucky when he top-edged a pull off Fidel Edwards and the ball fell just short of wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh's sprinting dive.
Corey Collymore bowled Trescothick for 12 with a ball that swung and nipped back through the gate while Strauss (12) mishit a pull off Pedro Collins to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at mid-on.
The touring side had resumed on 161 for nine but Steve Harmison dismissed tailender Edwards in the third over of the morning to wrap up the innings on 165 and finish with four for 44, his best return of the series.
England, chasing their ninth win in 10 tests, will be wary of the pitch in the final two sessions after 14 wickets fell on Sunday with Edwards and Andrew Flintoff finding some fierce extra bounce.
West Indies will also be encouraged by the fact that 231 would be a record fourth-innings winning total at the Manchester ground.
The slight threat of rain could yet rob both sides of the chance of victory.
However, England gave themselves a chance of victory on the last day with a fine all-round bowling display.
At stumps, on the fourth day, West Indies were 161 for nine in their second innings, a lead of 226.
However, the biggest fourth innings total to win an Old Trafford Test is the 145 South Africa managed back in 1955.
England's best winning Test chase at the ground was when they scored 142 against South Africa in 1951.
But both those totals came during an era of uncovered pitches and before the advent of one-day cricket made teams generally more adept at run-chases.
Local hero Andrew Flintoff (three for 26), left-arm spinner Ashley Giles (three for 43) and fast bowler Stephen Harmison (three for 44) all chipped in as West Indies collapsed.
And Giles said England, after June's successful last-day chase against New Zealand at Trent Bridge where they finished on 284 for six to secure a four-wicket win, would have no fears about hauling down a target.
But West Indies 20-year-old all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who on Sunday took a Test-best six for 55, warned: "Batting on the last day will be difficult for England especially if we show the same discipline with the ball as we did in the first innings."
Only Ramnaresh Sarwan (60) and opener Chris Gayle (42) made scores of more than 16 as a match that had been meandering towards a draw, hardly surprising after Friday's second day total washout, came alive after tea.
When bad light ended play at 6pm with 11.2 overs remaining Corey Collymore was two not out and Fidel Edwards nought without facing.
But the fact the game was still in progress was partly down to West Indies' slow over-rate earlier in the day.
West Indies began a marathon final session comfortably placed at 58 for one, a lead of 123, after they had bowled England out for 330.
Gayle was 29 not out and Sarwan 11 not out.
Left-hander Gayle fell for 42 when a lofted drive off Giles was well-caught low-down at long-on by Matthew Hoggard.
West Indies captain Brian Lara, bowled for a duck in the first innings by Flintoff, came in needing seven more runs to become the fastest man and only fourth player in all to score 10,000 Test runs.
He reached the landmark with a square-driven four off Flintoff.
But on seven, the startled left-hander could only fend his fourth ball, a rising Flintoff delivery, to Andrew Strauss at second slip.
England's hero with the bat in their 256-run second Test win at Edgbaston where he scored a Test-best 167, Flintoff was turning it on with the ball to the raucous delight of his adoring home fans.
And he struck again when Shivnarine Chanderpaul (two), trying to work the ball through midwicket, got a leading edge and was caught at mid-on by England skipper Vaughan.
Lara makes history - again
West Indies captain Brian Lara became the fastest batsman to score 10,000 Test runs when he made seven against England in the third Test at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Left-hander Lara, only the fourth man to score 10,000 Test runs, reached the landmark in his 111th Test and 195th innings.
That was 13 matches quicker and 17 innings fewer than India great Sunil Gavaskar who had previously been the quickest Test batsman to five figures.
He reached the landmark with a square driven four off all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who bowled him for nought in the first innings.
But having scored exactly 10,000 runs Lara was out to his fourth ball when he edged Flintoff, to second slip Andrew Strauss.
In April this year the 35-year-old Lara scored a Test world record 400 not out, against England in Antigua.
Australian duo Allan Border and Steve Waugh are the other batsmen to have scored 10,000 Test runs.
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