Frustrated England fall painfully short

England's captain Andrew Strauss and wicketkeeper Matt Prior react after Strauss fails to catch Ramnaresh Sarwan. Photograph: Andres Leighton/AP


History repeated itself at the Antigua Recreation Ground yesterday as England and West Indies drew the third Test in the most dramatic fashion. The light was already closing in when the last West Indies batsman, Fidel Edwards, joined Daren Powell with England rampant and closing in for the kill. But as the shadows lengthened and the fielders hovered like vultures around the bat waiting for the carcass, the pair batted defiantly, surviving, amid the oohs and aahs of fielders and crowd alike, for 10 overs until finally, more than an hour after the scheduled close, the umpires Rudi Koertzen and Daryl Harper deemed it too dark even to face spinners.

The batsmen embraced and strode triumphant from the field. Three years ago in what, but for the events earlier in the week, would have been the final Test on this ramshackle old ground West Indies survived similarly, leaving India a single wicket away from victory.

Data Source : Guardian.co.uk