Windies make England fight

FE Team | Published: June 19, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell both fell on the fourth morning as West Indies made England work hard, in helpful bowling conditions at Chester-le-Street, reports Cricinfo.
With Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior at the crease, and not a lot else to come, for the first time in this series England were made to graft.
Encouragingly for West Indies, their bowlers made the most of the conditions, under gloomily grey skies. Whereas Sunday evening Fidel Edwards, and in particular Corey Collymore, were loose and wide, Monday their lines were spot on, testing Strauss outside his off stump and troubling him with booming inswingers. The fielders were ebullient and confident, too, which has been a rare sight this series.
It was the extra pace of Edwards which made the difference, though. Tearing in, he had tested Strauss with a number of indippers before finding one to hold its line which Strauss completely misread, edging it behind.
Strauss' last hundred was against Pakistan at Headingley almost a year ago and, though he failed again Monday, it was a neat and confident knock to boost his confidence going into the India series.
In marched Ian Bell, bristling with positive body language, who immediately showed Strauss the benefits of a confident forward stride.
He looked in good touch, too, crisply driving Collymore through extra cover and showing impressive judgement outside his off stump.
Collingwood was his usual dogged self, nudging the seamers and playing back in his crease as late as possible. Batting was by no means easy, though. A fortunate slash which flew over the slips was met with a wry grin and a shrug of the shoulders, and he was severely tested by the pace and bounce of Edwards. What a difference a strike bowler's venom makes.
Daren Powell, replacing Edwards, gained prodigious movement away from the right-handers but was a little too short at times. When he did pitch it up, Bell was lured into driving and a thick outside edge flew to gully. England were in danger of collapsing.
Matt Prior might still be in the honeymoon period of playing for England but, even in such difficult conditions he decided attack was the best form of defence. And it worked, too - though not without alarm. A carefree slash over gully got him off the mark before he drove Powell quite magnificently through the covers for four. Such a naturally attacking batsman, watching him cope with the swinging delivery was to witness a batsman desperately unable to rein in his strokes. The longer he stayed at the crease, the more confident he came, but he continued to edge and poke his way to nowhere, particularly against Collymore's vicious leg-cutters.
For West Indies to force a result - they need a significant lead and the wicket of Prior soon after lunch. As they have shown throughout this series, their confidence is brittle and fragile and it will not take much for Prior and Collingwood to exploit it.