Cricket Third Test:England beat West Indies by 60 runs yesterday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead into the final match of the series which is due to begin at the Riverside on Friday. Handsome enough then and, with his 21st victory in charge, it makes Michael Vaughan the most successful of all England captains.
But in defeat there was much honour for West Indies, the more so after the derision heaped upon them after the second Test.
Asked to make 455 to win, uncharted territory in Test cricket, and 301 for five overnight, they were not dismissed until 25 minutes beyond the lunch interval, for 394, by which time Shivnarine Chanderpaul, exemplary in his self-discipline for almost seven unwavering hours, had reached an unbeaten 116, his 15th Test hundred, third against England but, perhaps most pertinently, his first for two years.
If West Indies, Lara-less, and without Ramnaresh Sarwan as well, prayed for someone to take on responsibility they can have asked for no more than Chanderpaul's response: in three innings this series he has made 74, 50 and yesterday's century.
To Monty Panesar, fittingly, as consistently the best bowler at Vaughan's disposal, went the coup de grace, a low reflex catch by Ian Bell at short leg offered by the last man Corey Collymore and which required the adjudication of the third umpire before the rest of the England team could complete their jubilations.
Panesar, imparting more overspin than hitherto and gaining some dip into the pitch as a result, was able to drag batsmen on to the front foot rather than allowing them to hang back as he had on the fourth day, and was all the more menacing for it as the ball fizzed and spat from a wearing pitch.
One delivery, from the rough created by the pace bowlers' footmarks, reacted so violently that it clouted Chanderpaul on the head. Another careered over his shoulder and past Matt Prior for byes, adding to the match total of extras which eventually numbered 167, close to a world record: Aleem Dar, who together with Billy Bowden had a magnificent match, signalled it as his one bouncer for the over.
The result for Panesar were figures of 51.5-13-137-6, his fifth Test five-wicket haul, giving him 10 for 187 in the match. Yesterday's wickets were taken in more orthodox manner for a spinner in the final innings of a full Test, with catches to short leg, slip - although Paul Collingwood was to miss one chance there given by Jerome Taylor - and, a collector's item, his first Test caught-and-bowled, a shoulder-high stinger taken clean as a whistle as Darren Sammy belted the ball back.
Panesar is such a crucial member of England's attack now, and his enthusiasm is infectious. He treads a fine line, though, with the umpires, particularly in premature celebration, and after one such incident, Dar having turned down an appeal, he was spoken to on the subject.
Indeed much of England's behaviour was near the knuckle, applying undue pressure on officials who did well to withstand it in a dignified way.
The most telling action came at the other end, however. When push came to shove, Vaughan went for all but half a dozen overs sent down by Ryan Sidebottom, to Panesar and Steve Harmison in tandem, potentially his two most potent bowlers in the conditions, and Harmison, a world away from the insipid fellow of the second day, delivered, bombarding the tail and shifting it where some last-ditch resistance in support of Chanderpaul might have seen West Indies home.
The delivery that removed Taylor was brutal; that which sent Fidel Edwards trudging to the pavilion three balls later even more so. All it needs now is for him to bank the memory of that and come steaming in at the top order in the same fashion.
Harmison finished with four for 95, and six for 148 in the match, meaning that he and his left-arm spinning compatriot have gathered 35 of the 40 wickets taken by England at Old Trafford in the last two matches.
The manner in which Chanderpaul marshalled the lower order aroused adverse comment in some quarters, but with the target still some way adrift surely represented the sensible approach. The response was impressive, first from Dinesh Ramdin, who belted Panesar's first ball of the day to the boundary and helped add 62 for the sixth wicket, and then Darren Sammy (25) and Taylor (11), each of whom contributed to partnerships of 37.
Scoreboard
Overnight: England 370 (I Bell 97, A Cook 60) and 313 (A Cook 106, K Pietersen 68; D Sammy 7-66). West Indies 229 (S Chanderpaul 50; M Panesar 4-50) and 301-5 (S Chanderpaul 81 not out, R Morton 54).
WEST INDIES - Second Innings
S Chanderpaul not out 116
D Ramdin c Collingwood b Panesar 34
D Sammy c & b Panesar 25
J Taylor c Cook b S J Harmison 11
F Edwards c Bell b S J Harmison 0
C Collymore c Bell b Panesar 0
Extras (b14, lb21, w8, nb4) 47
... -----
Total (132.5 overs) ... 394
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-35, 3-88, 4-161, 5-249, 6-311, 7-348, 8-385, 9-385.
Bowling: Sidebottom 27-8-53-0; S Harmison 33-8-95-4; Panesar 51.5-13-137-6; Plunkett 16-2-57-0; Pietersen 5-2-17-0.
England won by 60 runs
