England captain Andrew Strauss hit an assured,unbeaten 42 as the visitors enjoyed a positive start to the fifth and final Test against the West Indies at the Queens Park Oval on Friday. Winning the toss,England decided to bat first and went to lunch on 74-1. Owais Shah was unbeaten on 19. Daren Powell (1-38) was the successful bowler for the home team. England,who strengthened their bowling for this Test with a five-pronged attack,lost opener Alastair Cook for 12,edging to wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin. Strauss was fluent despite a slow pitch and struck five fours off 85 balls. Shah took 20 deliveries to score his first run,nearly running out Strauss in the process,but Ryan Hinds from point missed the stumps. Shah lashed Powell for two successive fours next over and added another boundary before the break as the Middlesex pair shared an unbroken second wicket stand of 48. Amjad Khan,the Denmark-born Kent fast bowler makes his Test debut for England as the visitors made three changes to the XI from Barbados. Wicket-keeper Matt Prior and left-arm Monty Panesar have also been recalled while left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom,reserve wicket-keeper Tim Ambrose and batsman Ravi Bopara have been omitted. The West Indies made two changes with pacer Jerome Taylor missing out because of an injured left ankle and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn dropped. The home team strengthened their batting with the inclusion of Lendl Simmons,making his Test debut. Fast bowler Lionel Baker was handed his second Test cap. Brief Scores (at lunch): England 1st innings: 74 for 1 (A Strauss batting 42,O Shah batting 19; D Powell 1-38)
