Best's Great Day Brings West Indies Cheer

Birmingham: Tino Best struck the highest score by a Test number 11 as the West Indies all but ended England's chances of completing a series whitewash at Edgbaston.

Best smashed 95 in a thrilling last-wicket partnership of 143 with Denesh Ramdin, who scored 107 not out as the Windies took their first-innings total from an overnight 280-8 to 426.

England lost their top three batsmen cheaply before Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell steadied the ship with a fluent partnership of 137.

Pietersen was caught at slip off Marlon Samuels for 78 and Jonny Bairstow was clean bowled by Best for 18, but Bell remained unbeaten on 76 as England reached 221-5 at the close, still 205 behind.

With only one day's play remaining, and rain forecast, a draw seems inevitable, but thanks to the heroics of Best an otherwise forgettable Test will live long in the memory.

When the Windies lost their ninth wicket in the first over of the day, it appeared England would soon be setting about overhauling a total of less than 300.

But Best had other ideas, the stocky fast bowler from Barbados launching into a thrilling counter-attack.

He threw the bat at anything wide from the seamers and cut successive balls from Graeme Swann for four to go past his previous highest Test score of 27.

He became the first number 11 to score a fifty against England since 1906, launching into an exuberant arm-wheeling celebration on reaching the mark.

He surpassed India paceman Zaheer Khan's record for a number 11 of 75 with a four over gully then hammered Tim Bresnan's next ball over the bowler's head for six.

Meanwhile Ramdin, dropped by Pietersen in the gully on 69, played watchfully at the other end before accelerating through the nineties to bring up his second Test century - and first for 22 innings - off 160 balls.

Brief scores
West Indies 426 (Ramdin 107*, Best 95, Samuels 76, Onions 4-88)
England 221 for 5 (Pietersen 78, Bell 76*)
Status England trail by 205 runs