England paceman Stuart Broad takes 7 wickets for 78:
Strauss eyes ton as England press on
England captain Andrew Strauss was nearing the end of an 18-month
century drought as his side strengthened their grip on the first Test
against the West Indies at Lord's here on Friday.
Strauss was 78 not out in a total of 167 for one that left England
just 76 runs behind West Indies' first innings 243 at tea on the second
day.
The opening batsman was thriving in the familiar surroundings of his
Middlesex home ground and together with Jonathan Trott (50 not out) had
added an unbroken 120 for the second wicket.
Left-hander Strauss scored the last of his 19 Test hundreds against
Australia at Brisbane in November 2010.
After Stuart Broad wrapped up the West Indies innings with the first
ball of Friday's play, England made a steady start to their reply. The
only wicket to fall in their innings thus far came when Alastair Cook
was out for 26 after inside-edging a cut off Kemar Roach into his
stumps.
England, 80 for one at lunch, initially found runs hard to come by
after the resumption, with the floodlights now switched on to counter
the gathering gloom.
Indeed Trott was twice fortunate not to be out for his interval score
of 17.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy saw an lbw appeal against Trott
rejected by Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar and called for a review. But as
replays showed the ball would have only just clipped leg stump, Dar's
original verdict was upheld.
Trott hadn't added to his total when there was a half-hearted appeal
for a catch behind. Dar was not interested and this time there was no
review request, even though replays indicated a nick.
Strauss meanwhile carried on in serene fashion against a willing, if
largely unthreatening, West Indies attack.
His straight driven four off Sammy was a textbook shot and a
leg-glanced boundary off his rival captain, the ninth of his innings,
saw Strauss complete a 97-ball fifty.
Sammy brought on part-time off-spinner Marlon Samuels -- the tourists
had omitted specialist spinner Shane Shillingford from their XI -- as
his seamers struggled to make the ball swing.
But when Samuels dropped short, Trott eased him off the back foot
through the covers for four and later an increasingly assured Strauss
advanced down the pitch to loft him over mid-on for a four that saw the
second-wicket partnership to a century stand.
Trott, after his double 'escape', was rarely troubled and completed a
105-ball fifty featuring six boundaries.
Earlier West Indies, who resumed on 243 for nine, saw No 11 Shannon
Gabriel's maiden Test innings end in a golden duck when he edged Broad
to Graeme Swann at second slip.
As a result, Shivnarine Chanderpaul remained stranded on his
overnight score of 87 not. The left-hander, officially the world's best
Test batsman, was in for more than four hours and struck 12 boundaries.
Fast-medium bowler Broad's figures of seven for 72 were his best in
Tests, surpassing his six for 46 against India at his Nottinghamshire
home ground of Trent Bridge last year. AFP |