Gayle and Sarwan punish England

West Indies 160 for 1 (Gayle 71*, Sarwan 74*) trail England 318 (Pietersen 97) by 158 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

	Ramnaresh Sarwan survived a few close shouts ... © AFP

Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan turned the first Test at Sabina Park emphatically in West Indies' favour with a classy second-wicket stand of 142 which spanned the final 48 overs of the second day. By the close, the two men were in total command of an England attack that lacked venom but also failed to match the dogged consistency that West Indies themselves had shown on the first day. England, who had initially thought that their first-innings total of 318 was a par score on a tricky pitch, were left wondering if they had short-changed themselves.

The stand between Gayle and Sarwan was a curious blend of diligence and flamboyance. Gayle, in front of his Kingston faithful, was the principal aggressor, predictably enough, although his boundary-count was curiously low by his usual blade-flashing standards. He struck just three fours and three sixes in 120 deliveries, but all three of his maximums were statements of bold intent. The first, off a bewildered Andrew Flintoff, came in only the second over of the innings, while Gayle had faced only three balls from both Steve Harmison - overlooked for the new ball in spite of his 7 for 12 on this ground five years ago - and Monty Panesar, before belting each of them into the stands.

But in between whiles, Gayle was content to sit back in the crease and invite England to tire themselves out under the Caribbean sun. His languid presence brought the best out of Flintoff in a feisty duel with the new ball, but it had the opposite effect on Panesar who began his spell with purpose and sharp spin reminiscent of Sulieman Benn's first-day efforts, but as the day wore on and the task at hand grew stiffer, he once again resorted to the flat, predictable darts that had been so condemned on the tour of India before Christmas. Stuart Broad also had a poor day with the ball, and though Ryan Sidebottom found appreciable swing with the new ball, he offered too much width to be a real threat in his first Test appearance since August.

At the other end, Sarwan was right in the thick of things - counter-punching gamely with his favourite off-side repertoire, particularly against Broad whom he cracked for three fours in four balls, and Panesar, who was elegantly threaded through the covers on the many occasions he overpitched. England, however, will feel aggrieved that Sarwan was still there to torment them at the close, after he was reprieved on 5 via the new referral system that will doubtless remain one of the talking points of the Test.

Though West Indies encountered the process on their tour of New Zealand last month, for England it was a brand new experience and one that brought mixed results. It did enable them to claim an early breakthrough when a not-out appeal for lbw against Devon Smith was overturned by the third umpire, Daryl Harper, but they were later denied a second wicket when Sarwan was reprieved on review, after doubts about the height of Harmison's successful lbw appeal

Umpire Tony Hill was at the heart of both instances. The first came in the sixth over, when Smith completely lost sight of a Flintoff yorker, and was trapped plumb in front of the stumps. Hill initially turned down the appeal because, to the naked eye, Smith appeared to have been struck outside the line, but after a quick glance at the captain, Andrew Strauss, the decision was sent upstairs, and duly reversed. Flintoff, to his credit, sought out the umpire amid England's celebrations, and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder.

The second referral was rather more controversial. Harmison was working up a good head of steam when he pinned Sarwan on the crease with a full-length lifter. Hill initially raised his finger to prompt wild celebrations from England, although up in the replay booth, Harper was not so convinced. Under the provisions of the system, the umpire is not permitted the full HawkEye replay, he can only see up to the point of impact. After imitating that there might be an issue over height, Hill took the decision to reverse his initial judgement - and moments later the rest of the world was able to see that the bails would indeed have been removed.

England, who have never encountered the system before, were actually rather naïve in its use. Twice in their innings they made unsuccessful attempts to reverse lbw decisions against Harmison and Panesar (although given how late in the innings those moments came, that was fair enough). What was less sensible, however, was the hot-headed decision to refer an lbw appeal against Sarwan, on 2 at the time, that was clearly sliding down leg. With only two referrals per innings, it was a bad waste, and had they held their horses, they might have been able to claim Sarwan's wicket from the final ball of the second session, when Broad was shown to have had a case for a second opinion from a delivery that would have clipped leg stump.

In the first session of the day, England's lower-order made light of the early dismissal of Flintoff, who cut Daren Powell to point without adding to his overnight 43, to chisel their way past the all-important 300-mark. The bulk of their runs came thanks to a classy 64 from 109 balls from Matt Prior, whose cover-drive was in fine working order as he bombarded the off-side with a fusillade of full-blooded strokes. Any hint of width was flogged through the covers, three times in three overs, and he even picked off a rare on-drive when Taylor strayed onto middle-and-leg.

Prior brought up his fifty with an edged drive through third man, but it was due reward for the counterattacking instincts he had brought to England's innings. It was the man of the first day, Benn, who finally brought his stay to an end. From the third ball he faced, Prior attempted to loft a drive back over the bowler's head, but Benn used his 6'7" frame to reach coolly to his left and intercept the chance.

That was Benn's third wicket of the innings, and when he wrapped up the innings with the wicket of Panesar, he finished with the hugely creditable figures of 4 for 77 from 44.2 overs. If that was a measure of how the rest of the match would pan out, however, it was alarmingly wide of the mark. In reply, Panesar's first 15 overs were both wicketless and uneconomical, and the ease with which Gayle and Sarwan pushed through to the close left England with more than a few worries as they headed towards the mid-point of the match.