Ambrose puts England in dire straits

London, June 30: Curtly Ambrose mercilessly exposed the inadequacies of England's upper-order with a masterly demonstration of pace bowlin...

London, June 30: Curtly Ambrose mercilessly exposed the inadequacies of England’s upper-order with a masterly demonstration of pace bowling at Lord’s on Friday as West Indies restricted England to 58 for five at lunch.

Michael Vaughan should have been dismissed without scoring when a thick edge off Ambrose flew through Sherwin Campbell’s hand as he dived to his right at second slip. The fortuitous boundary remained Vaughan’s only runs. With the score on nine he was comprehensively bowled through the gap by Ambrose, his 150th wicket against England.

Walsh was taken out of the attack with figures of 5-4-4-1 and the game suddenly, if briefly, changed character. Franklyn Rose’s first ball was a wild long hop which Graeme Hick thrashed to the Tavern Stand boundary; the third was sent speeding to the midwicket boundary; the sixth, a no-ball, was cover-driven for four; and the final delivery was again cut to the boundary.

It was too good to last and Ambrose made sure it did not. He bowled a wicked delivery which jagged back sharply and kept a little low, beating Hick’s hurried jab. Hick was out for 25 with five fours and England were staring into the abyss again.

It could have been even worse for England, who lost inside three days in the first Test at Edgbaston. An edge from Stewart when the England captain was on nine and the total 47 flew straight to Lara. This time he could not hold a catch he would normally have accepted in his sleep and England were granted a brief reprieve.

Stewart struck successive fours off Rose through the offside to take his score to 17 at the interval.

But Nick Knight, who survived a horrid swat at a short-pitched Reon King delivery which fell harmlessly between the fielders, was not so fortunate. The left-hander had scored only six when he sparred a King delivery straight to Campbell at second slip.

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Earlier, play had resumed on time on another dull, overcast day after overnight rain. Andrew Caddick needed just one ball to wrap up the West Indies’ first innings after winning an lbw appeal against Walsh who had resumed with one run on the scoreboard.

SCOREBOARD

West Indies: (1st innings): Sherwin Campbell c Hoggard b Cork 82, Adrian Griffith run out 27, Wavel Hinds c Stewart b Cork 59, Brian Lara c Stewart b Gough 6, Sherwin Chanderpaul b Gough 22, Jimmy Adams lbw Gough 1, Ridley Jacobs c Stewart b Cork 10, Curtly Ambrose c Ramprakash b Cork 5, Franklyn Rose lbw Gough 29, Reon King not out 12, Courtney Walsh lbw Caddick 1, Extras (b1, lb8, w2, nb2) 13; Total (all out in 89.3 overs) 267

Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-162, 3-175, 4-185, 5-186, 6-207, 7-216, 8-253, 9-258

Bowling: Gough 21-5-72-4, Caddick 20.3-3-58-1, Hoggard 13-3-49-0, Cork 24-8-39-4, White 8-1-30-0, Vaughan 3-1-10-0

ENGLAND: (1st innings):

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Michael Atherton c Lara b Walsh 1, Mark Ramprakash c Lara b Ambrose 0, Micheal Vaughan b Ambrose 4, Greame Hick b Ambrose 25, Alec Stewart batting 17, Nick Knight c Campbell b King 6, Craig White batting 0, Extras (b0, lb3, w0, nb2) 5; Total (for five wickets in 24 overs) 58

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-9, 4-37, 5-50

Bowling: Ambrose 9-4-17-3, Walsh 5-4-4-1, Rose 7-2-32-0, King 3-2-2-1.