PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):West Indies again found wickets hard to come by in the fifth and final Test against England yesterday and Andrew Strauss again used favourable conditions to gather his third hundred of the series.

West Indies toiled the entire opening day at the Queen's Park Oval for scant reward after England chose to bat and Strauss hit his 17th Test hundred, an undefeated 139, to lead England to 258 for two in their first innings at the close.

Hamstrung by the loss of key fast bowler Jerome Taylor with an ankle injury, West Indies found the hard, true pitch again heavily stacked in favour of the batsmen and struggled to make inroads.

difficult obstacle

The home team found Strauss a difficult obstacle to overcome in the two previous Tests, where his scores were 169, 14, 142 and 38.

West Indies again could not contain him and he reached the milestone from 186 balls, when he drove his opposite number, Chris Gayle, bowling his uncomplicated off-spin to cover for a single about 20 minutes after tea.

In the final session, West Indies were further stifled when Paul Collingwood passed 50 for the third time in the series - dabbing his 108th ball from Fidel Edwards through backward point for a single - as he added 102 in an unbroken stand with Strauss before stumps were drawn. He finished unbeaten on 54.

Before lunch, West Indies had limited success and England reached 74 for one.

Embattled fast bowler Daren Powell, opening the bowling in the absence of Taylor, made the breakthrough when he had Alastair Cook caught behind for 12 in the first hour of the morning.

But West Indies could make no significant headway following the departure of the England vice-captain, as Strauss and Owais Shah dropped anchor.

Ryan Hinds helped West Indies sip tea a little better when he collected the prized scalp of Kevin Pietersen just before the interval, following Shah's decision to retire hurt on 29.

At the break, England were 156 for two with Strauss within reach of his milestone.

Hinds, bowling his uncomplicated left-arm spin, struck in the final over before the break, when he bowled Pietersen for 10 with a delivery that pitched on the line of middle stump and spun across the England batsman to hit the off-stump.

West Indies thought they had Pietersen earlier, when umpire Russell Tiffin adjudged him lbw playing back and across to his third delivery from Brendan Nash, bowling his military left-arm medium-pace, before the batsman had scored.

But West Indies were brought back down to Earth when Pietersen asked for the decision to be referred and television replays revealed to video umpire Aleem Dar that the delivery from Nash had pitched outside the leg-stump before striking the batsman on the pad.

Up to this point, West Indies had toiled effortlessly throughout the afternoon session and were only spared a hard grind by Shah failing to overcome a severe bout of cramps in his left hand.

West Indies had been put under pressure when Strauss and Shah added 107 in an unbroken second-wicket partnership, before the stylish right-hander's exit.

Twice, West Indies had a chance to separate Strauss and Shah, but their fielders were not alert enough.

Devon Smith missed at the striker's end when Strauss, on 47, tried to steal a single off Nash and then Lendl Simmons misfielded when Strauss, on 71, drove Baker to mid-off and muffed a chance to remove Shah.

England made three changes to their side with Matt Prior, debutant Amjad Khan, and Monty Panesar replacing Tim Ambrose, Ravi Bopara and Ryan Sidebottom, while West Indies replaced Sulieman Benn and Taylor with Lendl Simmons and Lionel Baker.

West Indies lead the five-Test series 1-0, following an innings and 23-run victory in the opening Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica, where they bowled England out for their third-lowest total in Tests of 51.

West Indies need only a draw to secure a series victory over England for the first time in 11 years and their first series victory over a side above them in the world rankings for six years.

ENGLAND 1st Innings

A. Strauss not out 139

A. Cook c wkpr Ramdin b Powell 12

O. Shah retired hurt 29

K. Pietersen b Hinds 10

P. Collingwood not out 54

Extras: (lb4, w1, nb9) 14

TOTAL: (2 wkts, 90 overs) 258

+M. Prior, S. Broad, G. Swann, J. Anderson, A. Khan, M. Panesar to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Cook), 2-156 (Pietersen). NB: O. Shah retired hurt at 1-133.

Bowling: Edwards 14-2-25-0 (nb4, w1); Powell 11-1-51-1; Baker 12-2-30-0 (nb1); Nash 16-3-47-0;Gayle 17-0-52-0 (nb1); Hinds 20-2-49-1 (nb3).

WEST INDIES:C. Gayle, D. Smith, R. Sarwan, L. Simmons, S. Chanderpaul, B. Nash, R. Hinds, +D. Ramdin, D. Powell, F. Edwards, L. Baker.

Toss: England

Umpires: D. Harper, R. Tiffin, TV Replays: Aleem Dar, Reserve, Clyde Duncan

Match Referee: A. Hurst