CHESTER-LE-STREET, England, CMC):

West Indies continued to feel the chill on their tour of England when Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara fashioned purposeful hundreds for the hosts in the second and final Test yesterday.

West Indies endured a long, hard toil, as Cook hit an undefeated 126 - his ninth Test hundred - and Bopara collected 108 - his third Test hundred - and England ended the opening day of the match on 302 for two in their first innings after they chose to bat.

The visitors had the fight knocked out of them when Cook and Bopara added 213 for the second wicket before Lionel Baker made a breakthrough to give them West Indies a late lift.

"It was another tough day for us," conceded West Indies coach John Dyson. "It was a very flat pitch, and the England batsmen batted very, very well.

"I think our bowlers stuck at the task reasonably well all day. We bowled, perhaps, just a little wide, and perhaps, just a little too short, but they stuck to the job. It's just that the pitch is too flat."

Opening Test

West Indies bowled far steadier than they had in the opening Test at Lord's, but they could not deny the two England batsmen - who both play for Essex in the English County Championship - from reaching their milestones.

Cook reached his hundred from 209 balls when he swung Sulieman Benn through midwicket for the 11th of his 14 fours, and celebrated when he cut the lanky left-arm spinner through square cover for his 12th.

Bopara arrived at a record-equalling hundred from 183 balls when he chased a wide ball from Lendl Simmons, and squeezed it out to point for a single to join the illustrious crowd of Bert Sutcliffe, Denis Compton, Geoff Boycott and Graham Gooch, as the fifth England batsman to score three consecutive hundreds in Tests.

Before lunch, West Indies had bowled steadily throughout the morning session after they were greeted by a hard, slow Riverside pitch - similar in nature to the surfaces in the Caribbean which were heavily criticised by the English.

But the visitors had to turn to Gayle for their first wicket when he had Strauss caught down the leg-side by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin after the England captain under-edged a sweep, as the home team reached 85 for one at the interval.

It was a bit of morale victory for Gayle. He and Strauss have waged a war of words over the last week, following the West Indies captain's late arrival from the Indian Premier League for the series.

Things became a little more heated over the last few days when Gayle admitted in a British newspaper report that he was growing tired of Tests, may give up the captaincy and questioned Strauss' ability to play limited-over cricket.

Between lunch and tea, West Indies endured a fruitless toil, as Cook and Bopara took the opportunity to progress to the half-century mark and carry England to 184 for one.

West Indies never came close to separating the two, as Cook reached his 50 from 108 balls when he nurdled Benn to fine leg for three, and Bopara arrived at the mark from 106 balls when he glanced the same bowler in the same direction for the seventh of his 13 boundaries.

Formidable total

Just before the break, Ramdin failed to hold a difficult chance down the leg-side off Baker when Bopara was on 51.

After the break, West Indies continued to hunt for the wickets, and the England batsmen sought to build a formidable total.

Cook progressed to his hundred before Bopara hastened to his milestone, following an eventful over from Benn in which he stuck the spinner for two fours and a lofted six.

But Baker, armed with the second new ball, made the breakthrough when he bowled Bopara with a well-pitched ball that moved back and found its way through the batsman's previously impervious bat-pad defence.

Both sides are unchanged from the previous Test which England won by 10 wickets inside three days at Lord's to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.

West Indies need a victory to hang on to the Wisden Trophy, symbol of Test supremacy between the two sides.

ENGLAND 1st Innings

A. Strauss c wk Ramdin bGayle 26

A. Cook not out 126

R. Bopara b Baker 108

J. Anderson not out 4

Extras (b9, lb3, w6, nb20) 38

TOTAL (2 wkts, 90 overs) 302

K. Pietersen, P. Collingwood, +M. Prior, T. Bresnan, S. Broad, G. Swann, G. Onions to bat

Fall of wickets: 1-69 (Strauss), 2-282 (Bopara)

Bowling: Taylor 14-1-42-0 (nb3, w1); Edwards 14-0-58-0 (nb8); Baker 19-3-60-1 (w3);Gayle 12-2-28-1; Benn 22-6-78-0 (nb1, w2); Simmons 9-0-24-0

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

Toss: England

Umpires: S. Davis, A. de Silva, TV Replays: P. Hartley, Reserve: N. Bainton