West Indies are facing another heavy defeat after being reduced to 115-3 yesterday, having followed on against England in the second Test despite a first innings 100 from Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Bowled out for 310 in their first innings, the visitors were still 144 runs from forcing the hosts to bat again when bad light stopped play in the fourth day at Chester-le-Street. The West Indies trail 1-0 in the two-match series.

"Generally, I think we played pretty well in the conditions," Sarwan said after making the West Indies' first century of the series.

"I was happy to get some runs. I knew they would try and bowl close to me and try and get me out lbw, but I thought I needed to be patient. The problem was I was a bit anxious."

Yet Sarwan was confident West Indies could stave off defeat.

"I think we've got the batting," he said. "I just think we need to apply ourselves to save the match."

After being forced to bat again, openers Devon Smith and Chris Gayle initially counter-attacked and put on 53 for the first wicket, scoring at over four an over. But their revival was halted when Smith was out lbw to Graeme Swann for 11.

With six fours and two sixes, West Indies captain Gayle completed his half-century off just 39 balls, but Graham Onions then took two wickets in three deliveries.

First he trapped Sarwan lbw for a second innings 22, before drawing an edge from Gayle (54) that flew straight to his England counterpart Andrew Strauss at first slip.

Suspended play

Just after 18.00 local time (1700 GMT), the not out batsmen Lendl Simmons and Shivnarine Chanderpaul gratefully accepted the umpires' offer to suspend play because of bad light and half an hour later play was abandoned for the day.

England needed less than three overs of the evening session to end the West Indies first innings, with Stuart Broad removing Fidel Edwards, caught by England captain Strauss for 11, before Denesh Ramdin was caught for 55 by Swann off James Anderson.

England were forced to use Paul Collingwood as an emergency wicketkeeper, after Matt Prior injured a finger during the afternoon session.

Prior initially carried on after receiving medical attention. He failed to take the field after tea, but is expected to be fit today.

Resuming on 188-5 after lunch, the visitors lost two quick wickets. Brendan Nash departed for 10 after playing a ball from Anderson on to his stumps and Onions then removed Jerome Taylor, trapping him lbw, also for 10.

Yet England's progress was temporarily halted by a stand of 70 between Ramdin and Sulieman Benn for the eighth wicket.

Tim Bresnan was denied a first Test wicket when Benn nicked a delivery between wicketkeeper Prior and Strauss at first slip and the batsman profited from the escape by hitting successive deliveries from Swann for four.

Ramdin brought up the half century partnership when he smashed Swann over midwicket for a six that landed on the boundary rope.

Entertaining innings

Benn's unorthodox but entertaining innings came to an end when he was run out for 35 by a direct hit from Kevin Pietersen, bringing Edwards to the crease.

Edwards, who was involved in a heated discussion with Anderson at the end of the third day, was treated to a hostile spell of bowling from both Anderson and Broad, who hit him on the helmet with the final ball of the session.

Chasing England's first innings score of 569-6 declared, West Indies began the day on 94-3 and Sarwan and Chanderpaul frustrated the hosts for over an hour, putting on 99 for the fourth wicket.

Broad made the breakthrough in the 45th over, when he had Chanderpaul caught behind by Prior for 23.

Broad claimed the key wickets of Chanderpaul and Sarwan as England reduced West Indies to 188-5 at lunch.

Sarwan was caught off Broad for exactly 100, having lost sight of a bouncer and allowing the ball to rear up off his glove to Bresnan in the slips.

Broad said England expected Sarwan to relax after reaching his century.

"It was a plan that Strauss and I had when he was in the 90s," he said. "He (Strauss) saw that Sarwan was keen to get to his 100, he played fantastically well so we just tried something different."