Bopara takes England to big total
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Fourth Test, Barbados (day two, close): England 600-6 dec v West Indies 85-1
Ravi Bopara marked his first Test since 2007 with a maiden century as England posted 600-6 declared on day two of the fourth Test against West Indies, BBC reports.
James Anderson removed Chris Gayle lbw after a TV referral but the hosts had reached 85-1 by stumps in Barbados.
Bopara (104) shared stands of 149 with Collingwood (94) and Tim Ambrose (76no) before the tourists declared.
They had resumed the day on 301-3 and, despite Kevin Pietersen falling early for 41, put on 299 in 63.2 overs.
England captain Andrew Strauss will be happy with how the day panned out for his side, who made 600 for the first time since 2003 and only the second time ever in the Caribbean.
They scored heavily and quickly to amass a huge total and then bowled with discipline and variety to make inroads into the West Indian batting line-up.
Strauss must now hope for a steady stream of wickets on day three and will be buoyed by the knowledge that England, 1-0 down in the five-match series, have time and runs on their side.
West Indies batsmen Devon Smith (37no) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (40no) need to continue laying a solid foundation from which their side can build if they are to remain in contention.
The hosts made a positive start on Friday morning when Edwards (3-152) trapped Pietersen plumb in front of his stumps and, despite a frivolous referral to the third umpire, the batsman was correctly given his marching orders.
Pietersen, who was dropped on 20 by Jerome Taylor the previous evening, struggled for rhythm and had already edged Taylor just short of Gayle at first slip before he was ousted.
It was important for England to negotiate their way through a venomous spell from Taylor and Edwards but things could have got worse when new man Bopara miscued Edwards to Taylor at square leg.
Fortunately for Bopara - keen to justify his selection in place of the injured Andrew Flintoff - the catch was put down and he responded by pulling Taylor for successive fours and hooking Edwards for six.
Ravi Bopara marked his first Test since 2007 with a maiden century as England posted 600-6 declared on day two of the fourth Test against West Indies, BBC reports.
James Anderson removed Chris Gayle lbw after a TV referral but the hosts had reached 85-1 by stumps in Barbados.
Bopara (104) shared stands of 149 with Collingwood (94) and Tim Ambrose (76no) before the tourists declared.
They had resumed the day on 301-3 and, despite Kevin Pietersen falling early for 41, put on 299 in 63.2 overs.
England captain Andrew Strauss will be happy with how the day panned out for his side, who made 600 for the first time since 2003 and only the second time ever in the Caribbean.
They scored heavily and quickly to amass a huge total and then bowled with discipline and variety to make inroads into the West Indian batting line-up.
Strauss must now hope for a steady stream of wickets on day three and will be buoyed by the knowledge that England, 1-0 down in the five-match series, have time and runs on their side.
West Indies batsmen Devon Smith (37no) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (40no) need to continue laying a solid foundation from which their side can build if they are to remain in contention.
The hosts made a positive start on Friday morning when Edwards (3-152) trapped Pietersen plumb in front of his stumps and, despite a frivolous referral to the third umpire, the batsman was correctly given his marching orders.
Pietersen, who was dropped on 20 by Jerome Taylor the previous evening, struggled for rhythm and had already edged Taylor just short of Gayle at first slip before he was ousted.
It was important for England to negotiate their way through a venomous spell from Taylor and Edwards but things could have got worse when new man Bopara miscued Edwards to Taylor at square leg.
Fortunately for Bopara - keen to justify his selection in place of the injured Andrew Flintoff - the catch was put down and he responded by pulling Taylor for successive fours and hooking Edwards for six.