Chanderpaul keeps England at bay again

DURHAM, England, June 19 (Reuters) Shivnarine Chanderpaul took his sequence of unbeaten innings past 15 hours at lunch against England today as West Indies attempted to save the fourth and final test and avoid a 3-0 series loss.

After a 30-minute rain delay, West Indies reached 131 for four with Chanderpaul on 32 and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo 19 not out.

Chris Gayle was the only wicket to fall.

At the interval the tourists led England by 18 runs in their second innings and will have to bat for most of the day to avoid leaving England a comfortable run chase for victory.

Chanderpaul has not been dismissed for 942 minutes (more than 15 hours), but still has some way to go to beat his own world record of 1,513 minutes in 2002.

The tenacious left-hander scored 116 not out in the second innings of the last test at Old Trafford and made an unbeaten 136 in the first innings of this game. He is averaging 204 in the series so far.

Gayle failed to add any runs to his overnight score of 52 when he edged Matthew Hoggard to wicketkeeper Matt Prior. He faced 71 balls, but just eight this morning.

Bravo had a lucky escape on seven when he edged Steve Harmison for four after the ball bounced awkwardly in front of first slip Andrew Strauss and continued to the boundary. Harmison also struck him a painful blow shortly before lunch.

Chanderpaul survived a close lbw appeal when on 32 to Harmison, who will need a hernia operation after the match, the England and Wales Cricket Board said today.

Bravo was gifted a boundary five minutes before lunch when his clip to the square leg boundary to fielder Monty Panesar should have earned a single but the ball went straight through his hands.

Hoggard has three for 28 from 11 overs.

The first day of the match on Friday was completely washed out by rain, while only 40 overs were possible on Saturday.

England won the second and third tests at Headingley and Old Trafford, after the first match at Lord's was drawn.

REUTERS BJR KN1840