Baugh, Bravo keep WI in contest

MANCHESTER: Having almost completely frittered away a potentially decisive advantage in mid-afternoon, West Indies were thankful for the intervention yesterday of yet another of their promising young players in redressing the balance with two wickets late on a long third day of the third cricket Test against England. A combination of injury to Pedro Collins, puzzling tactics by the captain, and increasingly slipshod out-cricket allowed the hosts to rally from the depths of 40 for three, in reply to the Caribbean side’s first innings total of 395 for nine declared. But just as it seemed as if Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe would extend their rescue act to stumps, Dwayne Bravo enhanced his reputation as a promising all-rounder with a late-double-strike that redressed the balance and left the English still with much work to do at 233 for five at stumps. The supremely confident 20-year-old lifted the mood of a quickly flagging team when he bowled Strauss off the inside-edge for 90 to end a fourth-wicket partnership with Thorpe that realised 171 runs.

New batsman Andrew Flintoff arrived to a thunderous ovation from a capacity Old Trafford crowd that had enjoyed a fluctuating day’s cricket following the frustration of the complete washout on Friday. But they were to be left disappointed when Bravo earned an leg before wicket verdict against the local hero that certainly looked fortunate, but was no less than he deserved for his determination and perseverance. With the follow-on target easily surpassed and only two days left in the match, a draw looks the likely outcome. Yet with Thorpe set to resume on the fourth day on 89 in partnership with nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard, West Indies will have to be wary of the home team building any sort of first innings advantage ahead of the final day. Following on his Test best innings of 77 on the opening day, Bravo’s current figures of three for 36 off 19 overs have heightened expectations from this talented young man. Yet it was another youthful talent, Carlton Baugh, Jr., whose courage in a counter-attacking, stroke-filled innings of 68 on a frenetic morning that provided the impetus for an unexpected lower order revival in which another 120 runs were blazed in two thoroughly entertaining hours.

The 22-year-old wicketkeeper/batsman capitalised spectacularly on the England fast bowlers’ preoccupation with bowling short of a length, cutting powerfully and slashing deliberately over the slips for a succession of boundaries. But it was a classic cover-drive off Steve Harmison — unquestionably the shot of the day —  for his eighth boundary that brought up his first Test half-century off just 58 balls. Dave Mohammed set the tone for the day in spanking three fours off one over from Harmison and hoisting Ashley Giles for six over mid-wicket before getting carried away and splicing an attempted pull off Flintoff to Strauss at cover. His entertaining 23 in a 41-run seventh-wicket partnership with Baugh galvanised the little man and the tail-enders to continue the resistance. By dint of sheer determination and occasional moments of good fortune, Collins contributed 19 to a 50-run eighth-wicket stand with Baugh before his defiance was ended by a Flintoff short ball that left him with a nasty cut on the chin that required eight stitches to close. Forced to retire hurt to have the injury treated, Collins was fully expecting to resume his innings.

Corey Collymore took a few blows about the body before being bowled by Hoggard to give the medium-pacer his fourth wicket of the innings. Baugh’s innings ended on the stroke of the interval as a miscued flick to leg off James Anderson presented a catch for England captain Michael Vaughan at cover. With no indication of a declaration, confusion reigned on the resumption when the English took the field only to be called back by Brian Lara. It subsequently emerged that Collins, although padded up to bat, was still feeling the effects of the blow on the chin and the umpires considered the innings to have been declared by the West Indies captain. While he could not take the field for the rest of the day, the left-arm medium-fast bowler is expected to be available when play resumes on the fourth day and will be able to bowl immediately. His absence was certainly felt, but not immediately. Fidel Edwards had Marcus Trescothick caught at second slip to the second ball of the England reply, Collymore uprooted Robert Key’s off-stump with a superb leg-cutter, and Bravo joined in with the wicket of Vaughan, bowled off his pads by a full-length delivery.

Yet Lara did not help the cause in choosing to introduce Sylvester Joseph, a player with absolutely no bowling pedigree, and Chris Gayle ahead of the appointed specialist spinner Mohammed. The wrist-spinner caused some problems for both Strauss and Thorpe, yet even with a decent total already on the scoreboard, the West Indies captain declined to put concerted pressure on the two left-handers, opting instead for containment.  The mystifying policy allowed the pair to gradually ease into a position of dominance, aided by increasing errors in the field. None of the errors have been more costly than Sarwan’s miss at backward point when Thorpe, on 58, sliced an attempted square-drive at Mohammed. It was an unforgiveable error from the vice-captain and seemed to be in the mood of almost inevitable decline that made a mockery of the earlier defiance. But thanks to Bravo’s late strikes, all the possibilities remain open with two days left.