Chanderpaul grinds out Old Trafford ton
Monday, 11 Jun 2007 13:17
Old Trafford rose to applaud Chanderpaul's ton
Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit his 15th Test century as West Indies continued their gritty fightback at Old Trafford in the third Test.
The 32-year-old left-hand batsman, returning from injury problems which forced him to miss the second Test defeat in Headingley, hit 104 not out from 241 balls by lunch on the final day against England.
His innings was not without its good fortune as he was dropped on 18 by England spinner Monty Panesar, but Chanderpaul took full advantage of his second chance to slowly work his way through the runs.
This morning the approach to his century was tortuously slow and it seemed he was completely unconcerned by handing the strike to his side's lower order players.
But by lunch West Indies had reached 379-7, needing just 76 runs to win with three wickets remaining to complete an extraordinary record-breaking upset.
Chanderpaul is currently the best Windies batsman in the ICC international Test rankings, coming in at number 21.
His Test average is 44.8 from 102 appearances, at a relatively slow strike rate of 43.02.