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| Marlon Samuels scores his third test hundred. |
When the West Indies
chose to bat first and slumped to 63-4 before lunch, it seemed to be
the same old story for England, who must have been eyeing a bat
before the end of the day. However, Marlon Samuels stuck with the
inevitably adhesive Shiv Chanderpaul and the pair put on 82, but
Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin fell in quick succession, leaving the
Windies tottering again on 136-6. Enter their much-maligned captain,
Darren Sammy. Constantly criticized for his lack of runs and wickets,
he put all the doubts to bed. Samuels also flourished as runs were
being racked up at a one-day rate. England's bowlers lost all
semblance of control, though it has to be said that they were rather
unfortunate at times; the ball constantly flying in the air through
gaps. The two batsmen put on the highest seventh-wicket partnership
in Tests at Trent Bridge and their stand was worth 168 at the close
of play (150 coming in the final session in just 33 overs), West
Indies having reached complete safety at 304-6. Samuels' 107* is just
his third Test century in the 12 years since his debut while Sammy's
88* is by far his highest Test score. On a pitch which noticeably
flattened out throughout the course of the day, England could be
facing a hard task to wrap up the innings tomorrow.
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