Chanderpaul century leads Windies charge

FE Team | Published: July 05, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Shivnarine Chanderpaul hammered his seventh one-day international century as West Indies overcame testing conditions at Edgbaston to post a strong total. He added 175 with Marlon Samuels as the pair tore into the final 10 overs, which brought 102 runs, and England's batting faces a tough examination to secure the series, reports Cricinfo.
After a tour of walking to the middle with his side in trouble, Chanderpaul was finally shifted up the order to No. 3 and was able to build on a 50-run opening platform. His runs came with a sense of inevitability, although for large sections of his innings he didn't set the world alight with the scoring rate. However, as England did at Lord's, West Indies' batsmen assessed the surface and played accordingly.
Chanderpaul flicked and squirted his way to an 85-ball fifty, against accurate but unthreatening bowling, but needed only 29 more to move to three figures. The omission of Monty Panesar left England short of wicket-taking options in the middle overs and, as well as Dimitri Mascarenhas and Michael Yardy bowled, Chanderpaul wasn't pushed hard after the initial new-ball bursts.
He raced into the 90s by taking 19 off Ryan Sidebottom's eighth over - including a disdainful six over long on - and he went to 98 with a brazen sweep off Anderson. His 114-ball century, a first against England in ODIs, was a perfectly paced one-day innings and showed the importance of not panicking if early momentum is tough to come by.
Chanderpaul's chief ally was Samuels - normally eager to launch the ball into neighbouring streets - who reined himself in until given licence to thrill in the final 10 overs. After collecting a golden duck on Saturday he found it difficult to force away the medium-pacers and didn't hit a boundary until his 21st ball. Then he was put down by Paul Collingwood - off his own bowling - on 14, a simple catch by Collingwood's standards, before slowly expanding his strokeplay and reached fifty off 83 balls.
He ignited the final 10-over charge by sending James Anderson's eighth over for 18 and was finding his full range when he cut to short third man. Chanderpaul, though, ended in style as Anderson finished with his most expensive ODI figures, including a final four overs that were dispatched for 50.
The start of the innings had included a similar array of shots as Chris Gayle took very little notice of the early movement. He opened his boundary account in the fifth over with a lofted extra-cover drive for six and was quick to pick up on anything a fraction short. When Broad, who claimed 3 for 20 at Lord's, was introduced Gayle greeted him with an enormous straight six that sailed over the pavilion. The ball didn't return.
Smith played an innings typical of his tour; a couple of scorching cover drives before an ugly swipe outside off stump against Anderson that resulted in a thin nick to the keeper.
England require another 162 runs with 5 wickets and 24.1 overs remaining (10-30 pm.)