England in control thanks to Andrew Strauss’ 142

Skipper's ton helps England take control of the fourth Test against Windies

England in control thanks to Andrew Strauss' 142

Skipper's ton helps England take control of the fourth Test against Windies

Captain
struck his 16th Test hundred to charge England out of the blocks in their must-win fourth Test against West Indies.

Andrew Strauss pulls one on his way to a brilliant 142 on the first day of the fourth Test against the West Indies in Barbados yesterday.

Strauss and Alastair Cook shared England's first double century opening stand for more than four years, in fact, to make good of winning the toss at Kensington Oval.

But once their stand of 229 came to its conclusion minutes after teau00a0the highest since Strauss and Marcus Trescothick turned the momentum of a match against South Africa in Durban in December 2004u00a0the runs dried up.

In control
England totally dominated the first two sessions only to be pegged back by a loss of wickets in a turgid evening period, and closed on 301 for three. Strauss was dismissed for 142 in spectacular manner by fast bowler Daren Powell to provide a breakthrough in the 65th over of a bat-dominated opening day.

A full delivery demolished Andrewu00a0Strauss' stumps to provide Powell with some joy after much suffering.

Opening partner Cook then perished five overs later, six short of a hundred, when he mishit a pull off Jerome Taylor which was clutched by a diving Ryan Hinds at midwicket.

Fluent
The jittery nature of Cook's innings was in contrast to Strauss, who followed his 169 in the drawn match in Antigua last week by celebrating his latest three-figure contribution before the halfway point of the opening day.

He did so in great style, hauling a delivery from spinner Sulieman Benn into the second tier of the Greenidge & Haynes stand.

It was a strong statement from an England team attempting to overcome the odds to win a campaign they trail 1-0 with two matches to play. They went into this contest without Andrew Flintoff, whose hip injury puts any future participation on this tour in doubt, and first-choice wicketkeeper Matt Prior due to paternity leave.

Fast bowler Steve Harmison was also left out on selection grounds, with Ryan Sidebottom preferred, as three changes were made to the XI which came so agonisingly close at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

Owais Shah returned to the Test team with a half-century there but appeared nervous today and perished, after spending 47 balls over seven, when he chopped a delivery from the 6ft 7ins Benn to slip.
u00a0
Scorecard

England (1st Innings)
A Strauss b Powell 142
A Cook c Hinds b Taylor 94
O Shah c DS Smith b Benn 7
K Pietersen not out 32
P Collingwood not out 11
Extras (b5, lb1, w5, nb4) 15
Total in 90 overs (3 wkts) 301
Fall of wickets: 1-229 (Strauss), 2-241 (Cook), 3-259 (Shah)
Bowling: Taylor 18-5-45-1; Edwards 14-0-64-0 (nb3, w5); Powell 17-3-72-1 (nb1); Benn 16-4-59-1; Gayle 15-4-28-0; Hinds 4-0-18-0; Nash 6-1-9-0

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