Thorpe ton takes fight out of West Indies

Saturday, April 3, 2004

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AFP): Graham Thorpe's 13th Test hundred and questionable tactics from the opposing captain helped England to wriggle free from the West Indies' vice on the second day of the third Test on Friday.

Thorpe was undefeated on 119 and gained valuable support from the lower order to give England a two-run, first innings lead, replying to West Indies' first innings total of 224, after their innings appeared in strife earlier in the day.

When bad light stopped cricket 3.4 overs early, West Indies reached 21 for one after opening batsman Chris Gayle was bowled for 15 by Steve Harmison in the same over that he hit the fast bowler for three boundaries.

Gritty left-hander Thorpe batted for close to 3-1/4 hours, faced 217 balls and struck 13 fours to take the teeth out of the West Indies attack that had reduced England to 155 for eight just before tea.

"I do not think I will ever go above what I did against South Africa at The Oval last year, but this is right behind it," Thorpe told reporters.

"It was tough day and the team needed a performance from someone and I was glad that I could put my hand up and do it. We were under pressure."

"At the beginning of the day, we were looking to bat well and get some sort of a lead, but it did not happen. The West Indies bowled well and kept the pressure on us all day.

"It was not until the last two partnerships that we were able to open up and get level with them which is a huge bonus just to get close to them."

After the tea break, Thorpe batted intelligently to shield Simon Jones and Steve Harmison from the brunt of the West Indies attack, and did not hurt that West Indies captain Brian Lara employed some questionable bowling choices.

With the fast bowlers working diligently to restrict the visitors and England's tailenders exposed, the West Indies captain gave Chris Gayle an extended spell with his part-time off-spin from the Marshall End and later replaced him with Ryan Hinds for a few more.

By the time Lara decided on an all-pace attack, Thorpe and, indeed, England had already bolted through the barn door and reached the safety of a negligible first innings lead.

Fidel Edwards with four wickets for 70 runs from 20 overs was the pick of the West Indies bowlers.

Pedro Collins captured three for 60 from 26 overs and Tino Best took two for 26 from 14 overs.

Early on, the momentum was clearly with West Indies after England continued from their overnight position of 20 for one.

Three wickets in the morning period had put West Indies in the favourable position with England going into lunch on 71 for four.

England had a slice of fortune in the first half-hour when Ramnaresh Sarwan dropped the visiting captain Michael Vaughan on 12 at second slip off the last ball of Best's second over, the third of the morning.

Two balls later, West Indies were in a celebratory mood when Butcher chased a wide, short, rising ball from Edwards and was caught at first slip for five.

Vaughan, with a string of low scores in the series, was under pressure to produce and Edwards and Best continued to play on the nerves of the England captain, who top-edged a hook at a short, rising ball and was caught behind for 17 trying to break free.

England were 33 for three, but Hussain and Thorpe batted positively to turn the strike over and present a challenge for the West Indies bowlers of having to constantly shift their line to accommodate the right-hand/left-hand combination.

But the West Indies' bowlers continued to bowl tightly and Corey Collymore, who had bowled tightly without much fortune in the previous two Tests, made the breakthrough when Hussain was bowled for 17.

After the interval, West Indies continued to make inroads to England's batting and restricted them to 162 for eight at the tea break.

Tino Best made the breakthrough when Andrew Flintoff was caught at cover for 15, Chris Read was lbw to Fidel Edwards for 13, and Ashley Giles was caught at third slip off Pedro Collins before the score had reached 150.

Just prior to the break, Collins added the wicket of Matthew Hoggard lbw without scoring and West Indies were in a comfortable position.

After tea, Thorpe snuffed it out with his resolute batting and the tail-enders that stung West Indies with their defiance.

England, who have a 2-0 lead, will clinch their first series win in the Caribbean for 36 years if they win here.

Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the third Test:

West Indies 1st Innings 224 (R. Sarwan 63; A. Flintoff 5-58)

England 1st Innings (overnight 20 for one)
M. Trescothick b Edwards 2
M. Vaughan c Jacobs b Edwards 17
M. Butcher c Gayle b Edwards 5
N. Hussain b Collymore 17
G. Thorpe not out 119
A. Flintoff c Collymore b Best 15
C. Read lbw b Edwards 13
A. Giles c (sub) Mayers b Collins 11
M. Hoggard lbw b Collins 0
S. Jones c Sarwan b Best 4
S. Harmison b Collins 3
Extras (lb5, w3, nb12) 20
Total (all out, 90 overs) 226

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-24, 3-33, 4-65, 5-90, 6-119, 7-147, 8-155, 9-187, 10-226
Bowling: Edwards 20-4-70-4 (4nb), Collins 23-6-60-3 (4nb, 1w), Collymore 16-3-26-1 (3nb, 1w), Hinds 4-1-7-0, Best 14-4-26-2 (1w), Gayle 13-3-32-0

West Indies 2nd Innings
C. Gayle b Harmison 15
D. Ganga not out 5
B. Lara not out 1
Total (1 wkt) 21

Fall of wickets: 1-19.
Bowling: Hoggard 3.2-1-5-1; Harmison 3-0-16-1.
Overs: 6.2
Position: West Indies lead England by 19 runs with nine second innings wickets standing.
Umpires: D. Hair, R. Koertzen, TV Replays: B. Doctrove
Match Referee: M Procter.

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