Anderson claims record wicket as Windies struggle

James Anderson claimed a record-equalling wicket and England's spinners kept their team on course for victory over the West Indies on the final day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday.

Set an improbable target of 438, the home side lost three wickets in advancing from the overnight position of 98 for two to 162 for five, leaving first innings centurion Jermaine Blackwood and captain Denesh Ramdin to carry the battle into the afternoon session with only all-rounder Jason Holder and the tailenders to follow.

Playing his landmark 100th Test, Anderson drew Marlon Samuels into a loose drive for James Tredwell to take a diving catch at second slip that lifted the 32-year-old seamer to 383 wickets, level with the record of flamboyant former all-rounder Ian Botham.

Samuels's dismissal for 23 after an hour's play followed the demise just a few minutes earlier of the other overnight batsman, Devon Smith. Having restrained himself admirably in more than three hours at the crease, the left-handed opener miscued a lofted on-drive at Tredwell to be caught by Gary Ballance at mid-on for 65.

Tredwell, who bowled unchanged for an hour-and-a-half in the morning session, should have snared Samuels shortly after but the batsman, deceived completely by a cleverly flighted delivery, was mis-stumped by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

However Samuels did not make the most of the escape and when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was palpably LBW to Joe Root, who had replaced the persevering frontline off-spinner Tredwell, 15 minutes from the interval.

The English celebrated the dismissal of one of their most resolute adversaries as if the match itself had been won.

While the pitch remains good for batting, the cumulative effect of England's discipline in pursuit of a first-ever Test match victory in Antigua, the West Indies players' proven inability to concentrate for long periods and the fact that two full sessions remain on the last day, look almost certain to result in the tourists holding a 1-0 lead heading to Grenada next week for the second match of the three-Test series.
Source: AFP