Chanderpaul to the rescue

CHESTER-LE-STREET, (AP):

SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL and Dwayne Bravo put on 77 runs on the second day of the fourth Test yesterday to rescue the West Indies after England had taken four wickets.

When bad light stopped play after only 40.4 overs, the West Indies were 132 for four wickets in their first innings with Chanderpaul 44 not out and Bravo unbeaten on 43.

With the first day wiped out because of rain, yesterday's play was delayed until early afternoon as the outfield dried.

Damp and humid conditions

When play began, England made the most of damp and humid conditions to reduce West Indies to 92 for four at tea.

Conditions were ideal for swing bowling and captain Michael Vaughan decided to put West Indies in to bat when he won the toss. Ryan Sidebottom justified the decision with the first ball of the match - West Indies captain Daren Ganga flicking an inswinging delivery straight to Alastair Cook at short leg.

The tour of England has been a miserable one for Ganga, promoted to captain when Ramnaresh Sarwan was injured. He has scored just 99 runs in seven innings and will return home at the end of this Test, having not been selected for the one-day international squad.

With the series already lost 2-0, opener Chris Gayle hit out even though Sidebottom and Matthew Hoggard produced some unplayable balls on the drying wicket. Gayle, who has not reached 50 in the series, hit three fours and a six off his legs for 28 in 24 balls before Hoggard struck in the eighth over.

Returning to the England team after missing half the series because of a groin injury, Hoggard trapped Gayle leg before with an inswinging delivery as the left-handed batsman attempted another extravagant clipped shot to leg. That reduced the tourists to 32 for two.

Only two more runs had been added when Devon Smith was out to a ball from Sidebottom that went straight instead of swinging away. Smith did not play a shot and the ball clipped the top of off-stump for the left-armed bowler's second wicket, leaving West Indies on 34-3.

Chanderpaul, fresh from a seven-hour century in the last Test at Old Trafford, also struggled as the ball swung wildly. But he and Runako Morton put on 21 before England struck again.

Morton mistimed a drive at the last ball of the 16th over from Steve Harmison and he lobbed up a simple chance to Sidebottom at mid-off, falling for six as West Indies slumped to 55 for four.

Personal milestone

Chanderpaul brought up a personal milestone in the 19th over, passing 7,000 Test runs in his1 04th match with a leg glance for four tomake him the seventh highest West Indies scorer. Tea was taken with West Indies on 92 for four.

The Guyanese veteran dropped on nine by Ian Bell in the slips with the score on 43.

Chanderpaul hit seven fours as he moved toward another half century. He has 284 runs on tour at an average of more than 100 after scoring a seven-hour century in the third Test at Manchester.

Bravo, one of the most exciting future prospects of West Indies cricket, offered a tough caught-and-bowled chance on 25 - but Harmison couldn't hold it. Bravo had scored six fours in his 79-ball innings.

Concentrated on surviving

The Trinidadian said he had concentrated on surviving when he came in with four men down. He took 20 balls to get off the mark.

"I wasn't looking at the score," he said. "I was concentrating on getting my feet moving and on getting a partnership going with Shiv (Chanderpaul)."

Sidebottom (2-34 from 11 overs) and Hoggard (1-35 from 15) were disciplined in the damp conditions. Harmison took 1-41, but was wayward, offering too many opportunities outside off-stump.

Hoggard said England had bowled too short at Chanderpaul and Bravo and should have removed them.

"Bravo and Chanderpaul really applied themselves as well, and we bowled too short at times," the Yorkshire bowler said.

"Chanderpaul's not in bad nick at the moment over here. He hasn't failed once in a Test match so far."

West Indies first innings

D. Ganga c Cook b Sidebottom
0
C. Gayle lbw Hoggard 28
D. Smith b Sidebottom 4
R. Morton c Sidebottom b Harmison 6
S. Chanderpaul not out 44
D. Bravo not out 43
Extras (6lb, 1nb) 7
TOTAL (for four wkts): 132

Overs: 40.4. Batting time: 180 minutes.

Fall: 1-0, 2-32, 3-34, 4-55.

Bowling: Ryan Sidebottom 11-5-34-2, Matthew Hoggard 15-4-35-1, Steve Harmison 10.4-0-46-1, Monty Panesar 2-0-6-0, Paul Collingwood 2-0-5-0 (1nb).