After restricting England to a first innings total of 318, the West Indies, behind centuries from captain Christopher Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan and useful scores from Brendan Nash and Denesh Ramdin, closed the third day on 352-7, 34 runs ahead in the first Digicel Test at Sabina Park.
Gayle, who along with Sarwan started the day’s play with the West Indies on 160-1, hit five thrilling sixes and five fours in making 104, his eighth Test century and first on Jamaican soil, while Sarwan, who was passing three figures for the ninth time, stroked 107, which included 10 delightful fours.
Australian-born Brendan Nash, whose mother and father are Jamaicans, closed the day on a fighting 47, three runs short of what would be his third half-century in as many matches, while wicketkeeper Ramdin, who had been having a miserable time with the bat, chipped in with an entertaining 35, which included four fours, three of which were textbook cover drives. Sulieman Benn is undefeated on 10.
England’s bowling
Bowling for England, pacer Stuart Broad has so far taken 3-61 off 24 overs, while Andrew Flintoff has so far snared 2-57 off 29 overs.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Monty Panesar, who was expected to feature prominently, given the dry nature of the pitch and the success of the West Indian spinners, have so far had little success, bowling 45 overs for 121 runs and one wicket.
Gayle and Sarwan, who eventually shared 202 runs for the second wicket, continued from where they left off on day two and added a further 60 runs before the former departed.
The left-hander, who mixed tight defence with controlled aggression, added four boundaries – two sixes and two fours – to his overnight total of 71 before playing on to a ball from Broad that kept low.
It was a well-played innings from Gayle who, on 85, was given out caught behind by wicketkeeper Matt Prior off the bowling of Flintoff by New Zealand umpire Anthony Hill, but was later ruled not out by third umpire Daryll Hair, as television replays showed that the ball glanced off his thigh guard and not his bat.
When he was eventually dis-missed, Xavier Marshall came to the crease. However, after surviving a loud appeal off the first ball, he was trapped in front for a second-ball duck.
At 220-3, Sarwan then brought up his century in the final over before the luncheon interval, when he swept Panesar backward of square for four, bringing much cheers from the appreciative crowd who throughout the day kept filling the stands.
The Guyanese, like Gayle, jumped and punched the air in celebration. And like Usain Bolt in China, with bat in hand and one finger pointing to the sky, he did the ‘to the world’ dancehall move.
Sarwan’s long vigil, which also brought up his 5,000th Test run, making him the youngest West Indian to do so at age 28, ended shortly after as he attempted to square drive the penetrative Flintoff off the back foot and dragged the ball on to his stumps with the score on 235.
Nash, playing his first Test in the West Indies and on the ground where he plays domestic cricket for Kingston CC, made his entry and, after looking tentative at first, when he was dropped on two, he overcame to build a partnership with Chanderpaul. But 12 minutes before tea, Chanderpaul was sent back lbw off Broad for 20, with the score at 254.
Source: jamaica-gleaner.com
