North Sound, Antigua: England closed in on victory on the final day of the first Test against the West Indies on Friday, taking three wickets in the morning session.
England pace bowler Jimmy Anderson, playing his 100th match, drew level with Ian Botham's 383 wickets as the most by an Englishman in Tests when he dismissed Marlon Samuels.
Resuming the day at 98 for two with no realistic chance of achieving the winning target of 438, the West Indies were 162 for five wickets at lunch with two sessions remaining. First innings century-maker Jermaine Blackwood was 19 and captain Denesh Ramdin 4.
New West Indies head coach Phil Simmons said after the fourth day that the first hour would be critical to the outcome of the match. In that time, England removed both overnight batsmen, Devon Smith and Samuels, adding left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the 40-year-old veteran of 162 Tests and 30 hundreds, 10 minutes before the first interval.
Left-handed opener Smith, 65, drove off-spinner James Tredwell to mid-on in the 13th over. Fifteen balls later, with Botham observing as a television commentator, Anderson secured his record-equaling wicket as Samuels sliced a drive to Tredwell at gully for 23.
Anderson started his Test career against Zimbabwe at Lord's in London in 2003. India, with 82 wickets in 19 Tests, and Australia, with 77 in 23 Tests, has provided the 32-year-old Lancastrian with most of his wickets. Samuels was his 39th in 12 Tests against the West Indies.
The wicket of Chanderpaul, leg before wicket to second-string off-spinner Joe Root, opened the way to the West Indies lower order and strengthened England's position to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
