England extended their total to a healthy 370 on the second morning at Old Trafford with Ian Bell falling three runs short of a seventh Test century, but his 97 was central to turning the innings around from a precarious 166 for 5.
Fidel Edwards, who continued to extract steepling bounce, gained late reward but England took all the morning honours when Steve Harmison nabbed an early breakthrough in a memorably hit-and-miss over.
West Indies' openers had 15 minutes to face leading up to lunch and Daren Ganga couldn't survive when he was trapped lbw in Harmison's opening over.
However, the bare facts of the wicket only tell half the story as Harmison's over verged from the sublime to the ridiculous with a series of huge wides and an unplayable off-cutter to Devon Smith.
His celebrations after removing Ganga were almost embarrassed and Allan Donald watched on from the balcony with a realisation of the task he has ahead.
Before play England's target had been to reach 350 and Bell took them most of the way with support from Harmison and Ryan Sidebottom.
Harmison took an early crack on the helmet from Edwards, but mixed some unconventional strokes with plenty of limbo-style swaying. Edwards pounded the middle of the pitch and the bouncer which eventually broke the stand of 39 was right on target as it flicked the glove through to Denesh Ramdin.
Hosts make a healthy total in first innings
FE Team | Published: June 09, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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