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.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS