Bullish Bresnan bowls England to edge of victory

Monday 28 May 2012

Tim Bresnan grabbed three crucial wickets on the third evening, giving England an edge he is sure they will convert to victory in the second Investec Test against the West Indies.

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The tourists manoeuvred themselves back into the game – bowling England out for 428 from a strong overnight position of 259 for two – but England's 58-run lead looked more than enough when the West Indies staggered to stumps on 61 for six.

Bresnan, who also scored an important 39 not out, was instrumental, taking three wickets in nine deliveries in the closing minutes, following fine work from new-ball pairing James Anderson and Stuart Broad."It wasn't what we expected with the bat today, but we came back strong with the ball," he said."They're six down, which is pretty popular, a phenomenal effort on that wicket. We still have a lot of hard work to do but I'm backing us to knock the last four lads over without them getting too much of a lead.But it doesn't really matter how many they get from here, I'm backing the batsmen to chase anything."Ravi Rampaul, who aided the West Indies fightback with three for 75, could not hide his exasperation at the top-order."It's tough watching the top six batsmen get out after the bowlers worked so hard," said the seamer."It's frustrating. It isn't easy to bowl 120-odd overs and then look at your batsmen not applying themselves and losing their wickets. I ask them to focus more, apply themselves a bit more and they will get there."One bright spot for the West Indians was the success of a ploy to bounce out Jonny Bairstow, who made four before Kemar Roach got him with a short ball."We know he doesn't like the short deliveries," said Rampaul. It's in our plan. Roach is our fastest bowler and he executed it well."West Indies resume with first-innings centurions Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy at the crease but a slender lead of three runs.

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Bullish Bresnan bowls England to edge of victory

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