Jones gives England upper hand

Grounded: Steve Harmison hits the deck trying to stop a run
14 April 2012
Score: West Indies 208 & 52-2 (lunch)
England 319 all out

Simon Jones reclaimed the momentum for England in the second Test today after they had been denied a potentially decisive lead by West Indies' impressive response at the Queen's Park Oval.

The Glamorgan fast bowler struck twice to remove openers Chris Gayle and Devon Smith as West Indies slumped to 52 for two at lunch on the fourth day having dismissed England for 319 to limit their first innings advantage to 111 runs.

Jones' double breakthrough lifted England's spirits after their hopes of building on a 92-run advantage overnight were halted by the loss of four wickets inside 13 overs this morning.

Brought on for the 12th over of West Indies' reply, Jones began badly with a wide down the leg side which flew to the boundary but made amends by piercing Gayle's defences with a full-length delivery which kept low and hit his off-stump.

He claimed his second victim in the next over with Smith, who had played with great discipline at the start of the innings, driving straight to Matthew Hoggard at mid off.

His demise should have brought captain and local hero Brian Lara to the crease but instead the West Indies decided for "tactical reasons" to promote wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs up the order and he safely guided his side to the interval without any further losses.

The tourists began the day on 300 for six with Graham Thorpe in sight of his second Test century against West Indies and Ashley Giles looking to claim a Test milestone of his own.

But they added only 19 more runs before being dismissed as West Indies bounced back strongly knowing that batting last would become increasing difficult.

Surrey left-hander Thorpe appeared to find his rhythm early, which he demonstrated with a superb cover drive for four off Tino Best, and Giles, looking to overhaul his previous best Test score of 52, had looked equally accomplished.

But Giles was only able to add nine runs to his overnight total before becoming left-arm seamer Pedro Collins' third victim of the innings when he edged an outswinger low to Devon Smith at second slip.

Giles had defied West Indies' efforts for more than two hours during his 99-ball innings and helped Thorpe add a crucial 85 runs at a time when England had just lost three wickets in 11 overs and were only 22 runs ahead.

Thorpe followed Giles back to the dressing room just four overs later when Collins slanted the ball across him and got extra bounce and the Surrey batsman edged behind for Gayle to take a chest-high catch at first slip.

He received a standing ovation from the enthusiastic England fans inside Trinidad's main cricket venue having defied West Indies for over five hours in testing conditions and hitting nine fours and a six in his superb 90.

New batsman Simon Jones lasted only three overs before Gayle struck with his tidy spin, straightening the ball through the gap between his bat and pad to hit off stump and last man Steve Harmison fell in almost identical circumstances two balls later.

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