Gayle forces out Strauss
West Indies captain Chris Gayle got the better of counterpart Andrew Strauss on the first morning of the second Test at the Riverside, taking the wicket of his opposite number as England made 85 for one at lunch.
The pre-match build-up was dominated by Gayle's apparent distaste for the longer form of the game, as well as some verbal jousting between the rival skippers, but it was the Jamaican who won the personal duel as Strauss departed for 26.
Alastair Cook made a relatively untroubled 39, with Ravi Bopara unbeaten on nine.
Such was the benign nature of both the bowling and the pitch that a shot was not required until the 11th legitimate delivery of the morning. By then a wide and no ball had got the scoreboard moving but it was not until the sixth over, when Strauss steered Fidel Edwards through point for four, that the first boundary was registered.
Cook drove well off Jerome Taylor for four but was soon surprised as a wide one from the paceman failed to get up and rolled awkwardly through to Denesh Ramdin. Taylor then got one to go past the outside edge - all too rare an occurrence in the opening stages.
Lionel Baker, replacing Fidel Edwards, followed his lead, finding Strauss' edge in his second over.
The captain was relieved, though, when the ball cannoned sharply into the ground and reached Sulieman Benn at gully on the first bounce.
Cook earned three for a push through the covers and a Strauss dab to fine leg brought up the England 50 in the 18th over.
Things started looking up when Cook milked 14 runs off the 20th over, with two fine shots off Baker and one significantly luckier four that squirmed over middle stump off the inside edge, but in the next over Gayle struck.
A fullish delivery from the Windies skipper tempted Strauss into a sweep but the ball appeared to brush a glove as it straightened, with Denesh Ramdin taking the catch.
