West Indies first innings 280-8 (Marlon Samuels 76, Denesh Ramdin 60*, Graham Onions 3-56)

The grand form of Marlon Samuels in the series continued since he smashed 76 runs and Denesh Ramdin stabilized the West Indies by scoring unbeaten 60.

The Windies managed 280 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their first innings at the end of the third day’s play.

The first two days of the third and final Test of the series were washed out due to rain and the match commenced on the third day, Saturday, June 9, 2012, at Edgbaston , Birmingham.

England brought in the pace duo of Steven Finn and Graham Onions while replacing Stuart Broad and James Anderson. The middle order batsman Assad Fudadin and the magical off spinner, Sunil Narine made their Test debut for the West Indies.

Earlier, the England skipper, Andrew Strauss, won the toss and opted to field first keeping in mind the damp weather conditions. Adrian Barath and Kieran Powell initiated the innings with caution and scored 14 runs in the first four overs. Barath got a chance when he was dropped on the fifth ball of the next over by Ian Bell in the third slip on the bowling of Onions at four runs. Both batsmen became subdued after that and the next four overs ended up as maiden.

The score reached 45 after 17 overs when Strauss handed over the ball to Tim Bresnan who made an instant breakthrough on the third ball when Powell was gone for 24. The youngster Assad Fudadin entered in next by making his first appearance on the international cricket and opened his account with a couple on the last ball of the 18^th over. Barath kept on consolidating, hit a six in the 22^nd over off Graeme Swann and the score was enhanced to 85 in 29 overs without losing any further wicket at the lunch interval.

Ian Bell dropped Barath on the first ball of the second over after lunch off Finn for 40 but the batsman was declared leg before wicket in the very next over bowled by Onions for 41 runs. The second wicket fell at 90 runs as the English bowlers took charge and the wickets started falling at regular intervals. Fudadin was the fourth batsman who went back to the pavilion for 28 and the fifth wicket was lost at 152.

Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin came to the rescue of the team and the first started from where he left in the previous encounters while sending the ball out of the ropes regularly. He achieved his fifty in the 64^th over with one six and a four as the score board showed 164-5 by the tea interval.

Samuels continued his assault after tea break as Ramdin kept on securing the other end and tasted his first four in the 76^th over. The duo contributed 56 runs for the sixth wicket when Samuels was declared leg before wicket off Tim Bresnan for 76 off 114 balls with 1 six and 10 fours.

Denesh Ramdin took control of the game with a little contribution from the incoming batsmen and the boundaries started flowing from his blade. He attained his fifty on the second ball of the 96^th over by taking a single. Ramdin remained unbeaten for 60 runs off 108 deliveries with 7 fours, Ravi Rampaul was at the other end at two as West Indies scored 280 runs with two wickets in hand at stumps on the third day.

There are two more days left in the match which has already been spoiled by rain since a couple of days.