England 370 and 313 beat West Indies 229 and 394 (Chanderpaul 116*, Panesar 6-137, Harmison 4-95) by 60 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
England finally broke West Indies' resistance on the final day at Old Trafford as Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar bowled them to a 60-run series-clinching victory. However, one of Shivnarine Chanderpaul's finest Test centuries kept his team alive into the second session, until Harmison took two wickets in an over, including his 200th in Tests, and Panesar finished the match by claiming his first ten-wicket haul in England colours. The win makes Michael Vaughan England's most successful Test captain with 21 victories.
Chanderpaul added only 23 of the 78 runs scored during the morning session, taking great care against Panesar, well aware that if he fell West Indies' chances would have gone with him. His century came off 233 balls and he survived everything that Panesar, Harmison and Ryan Sidebottom could produce, and any fortune that came his way was reward for the unstinting concentration. However, in the final reckoning his innings will be tarnished by the single he took to expose Jerome Taylor to Harmison after lunch, an over where Taylor and Fidel Edwards succumbed to the short ball, ending West Indian hopes. Chanderpaul showed plenty of trust in the lower order, and it's a fine line to tread when batting with the tail, but leaving them five balls against a refreshed Harmison was a misjudgement.
As it was last August against Pakistan, Panesar and Harmison shared all the second-innings wickets but they had to expel much more energy than had been expected. Panesar operated unchanged from the start at the Brian Statham End and bowled his most overs in a Test innings. His match haul of 10 for 187 was the first time an England spinner had taken ten in a match since Phil Tufnell, at The Oval, in 1997. Panesar was a constant threat, with steepling bounce out of the rough, and Aleem Dar even had to signal one bouncer for the over as a delivery flew over Chanderpaul's head.
The bounce accounted for Denesh Ramdin as the ball took the shoulder of the bat, high to Paul Collingwood at slip, but the lower order refused fold in first-innings style. Darren Sammy, who started the fightback with his seven wickets, showed his batting prowess by upper-cutting Harmison over the slips and also drove Panesar back of his head. But he became discomforted when he tweaked his hamstring and thumped a return catch to Panesar who held it well in his follow through. Sammy clearly had more difficulty against the spin than the pace yet still faced 60 of the 85 balls in the partnership.
Taylor, dropped at slip by Collingwood off Panesar on 1, put his head down in support of Panesar and the ninth-wicket added 37, either side of lunch. But a rapid and hostile Harmison was too much, Taylor fending to short-leg - wicket No. 200 - and Edwards edging another bouncer to gully. Corey Collymore became Panesar's 10th scalp when Ian Bell pulled off a stunning one-handed take a short-leg. The decision went to the third umpire, but England had already been signalled by the dressing room when the official decision was relayed.
However, while England have continued their fine home record - the last series defeat was against Australia in 2001 - West Indies have regained their pride. After recent events that is almost the bigger success.
