Best, Collins lead Windies fightback

WEST INDIES fast bowlers Tino Best and Corey Collymore with a wicket apiece, reduced England to eight runs for two wickets. But the English Lions fought back manfullly to reach 54 without further loss, replying to West Indies 208 on a rain affected second day of the second Cable & Wireless cricket Test at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday.

Scores: WEST INDIES 208. ENGLAND 54 for two.
West Indies resumed yesterday on 189 for eight, and extended their score by another 19 runs. The West Indies opening pacers bowled with a lot of fire to quickly send back England skipper Michael Vaughn and Marcus Trescothick. Collins back in the team as replacement for the injured Fidel Edwards, was very impressive and struck the first blow when Vaughn was adjudged leg before  cricket without scoring, with the total on two. And his fellow Barbadian, Best, working up a great head of steam from the Pavilion sent back Trescothick for one, caught by Adam Sanford playing a hook.

England’s fortunes mirrored that of the bleak weather at the Oval and at 10.50 am the rain started pelting down. It drove the players off the field for a total of 207 minutes slashing 54.1 overs from the day’s play. Great mopping up operations by the Oval ground staff and a short break in the weather saw play resume again, and Butcher and Hussain, just as they did in the first Test in Jamaica, batted with a lot of grit and determination before  more rain brought on an early closure. Butcher, the more comfortable of the two English batsmen got a reprieve with his score on 20, when Corey Collymore induced him to edge a catch to second slip which was grassed by Shivnarine Chanderpaul. His partner Hussain was left unbeaten on 20, after the Essex batsman appeared to be very fortunate  to get a massive leg before decision by the luckless Collymore ruled not out.

When play begins 30 minutes early today at 9.30 am, to make up for lost time, the English batsmen will be looking to keep the fresh West Indian bowlers at bay. England are still 154 runs in arrears and will be looking to push on to get to that target, with the hope of accumulating a sizeable lead. With the wicket giving assistance to bowlers willing to work hard, and with the weather as fickle as it is, any lead in this game could prove very vital to the overall outcome. The West Indies on the other hand, will be aiming to keep the disciplined bowling they displayed yesterday, to bowl out the Englishmen early and cheaply. Should West Indies accomplish this, and back it up with solid batting in their second innings,  England could well be facing a challenging target on a wearing pitch in the fourth  innings.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES vs ENGLAND
West Indies 1st innings
(Overnight 189/8)
CH Gayle  c Read  b Harmison 62
DS Smith  lbw b Harmison 35
R Sarwan  c Flintoff  b Harmison 21
BC Lara  c Giles b Harmison 0
S Chanderpaul  c Read b Jones 2
DR Smith c Hussain b Harmison 16
RD Jacobs run out 40
TL Best c Read b Hoggard 1
A Sanford run out 1
PT Collins b Harmison 10
CD Collymore not out 3
EXTRAS  (LB 7, W 6, NB 4) 17
Total 208
Fall of Wickets: 100; 110; 110; 113; 142; 143; 148; 165; 202.
BOWLING: Hoggard   15-3-38-1 (NB1); Harmison 20.1-5-61-6; Flintoff  10-3-38-0 (NB2, W1); Giles 3-0-20-0; Jones 12-2-44-1 (W1).
England 1st inns
ME Trescothick c Sanford b Best 1
MP Vaughan LBW b Collins 0
MA Butcher not out 25
N Hussain not out 20
EXTRAS (LB 6, NB 2) 8
Total for two wickets 54
TO BAT: GP Thorpe, A Flintoff, +CMW Read, AF Giles, MJ Hoggard, SP Jones, SJ Harmison.
Fall of Wickets: 2; 8.
BOWLING:  Collins 9-5-15-1 (NB2), Best 6-2-15-1; Sanford 6-3-17-0; Collymore 3.2-2-1-0.