A timely strike by Graeme Onions in West Indies’ second innings, after they were made to follow-on at Chester-le-Street, has surely decided the destiny of this series.

After spending just 69 days in the Caribbean, the Wisden Trophy, once the toughest trophy for England’s cricketers to lay their hands on, is a formality away from returning home.

It would probably have been so even without Onions’ two wickets, though Chris Gayle, in surely his final Test innings in England, was determined to make England bat again and soon, judging from the way he raced to his fifty off 39 balls.

Before this match, Gayle opened his mouth to pronounce upon his Test-less vision of the future. Yesterday he opened his shoulders to show us the batting he favours — a thrilling cameo that might occasionally contain the shot of the day, but without the staying power to win big matches.

There were several strikes competing for that first category, not least the two sixes he hoisted over long on, off Onions and James Anderson. Yet just as it looked as if he was lining up Onions’ short ball to hit it even harder than he had been doing, the bowler got some zing off the pitch and Gayle edged to Andrew Strauss at first slip.

It was a big wicket, especially as it followed two balls after the dismissal of Ramnaresh Sarwan, the other man who might have damaged England enough to set them a tricky total. Before that Onions had been thrashed for 27 runs off three overs, but a thick skin and an extra gear enabled him to turn the tables.

A centurion during West Indies’ first innings earlier in the day, Sarwan was pinned on the crease, lbw, by one that jagged back into him. Before him, Devon Smith had also been lbw, this time to Graeme Swann, the off-spinner’s continuing dominance over the left-hander now in danger of attracting the attention of the Monopolies Commission.

The wickets left West Indies on 115-3 in their second innings, still 144 runs short of making England bat again. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, bolstered by the fact that he has now overtaken Sir Vivian Richards as the West Indies’ second highest run-scorer in Tests, is still at the crease. But while Chanderpaul can frustrate you, he and the remaining batsmen are unlikely to score quickly to embarrass the home side with a late twist.

England’s dominance was not reflected earlier in the day when Sarwan and Chanderpaul were at the crease during the West Indies first innings. At that point, the pair cut contrasting figures, Sarwan’s hare to Chanderpaul’s tortoise, with the former’s adventure taking him to his 15th Test hundred.

Sarwan clearly has a liking for England’s bowlers. Over the course of six successive Tests against them he has passed three figures on four occasions and made a 94. That form was reflected in the confidence of his strokes yesterday, especially his driving on the up, a risky business most of the time let alone on a pitch this far north in England, in May.

There was no such frippery from Chanderpaul, who, needing 35 runs to overhaul the 8540 Test runs Richards made in 121 Tests, set about snubbing those who want to make Test cricket more interesting. Yet, just as it looked as if England might need a stick of dynamite to remove him, Stuart Broad, rolling his fingers across the ball, found the edge of his bat with an off-cutter.

It was an assured piece of bowling from someone edging ever closer to becoming a top-flight Test bowler. Included in that impressive progress is Broad’s refusal to rest upon his laurels and having got one leading scalp he set about adding Sarwan, which he did a few overs later when he fended a bouncer to Tim Bresnan in the gully.

With the Guyanese mainstays gone, England worked their way through the rest of the order, their progress held-up only when a frenetic stand of 70 between Denesh Ramdin and Sulieman Benn caused tactics to be rethought.

Benn, all 6ft 7in of him, decided to swing from the hip, a decision that enabled him to post 35, his highest Test score. It was an entertaining interlude enjoyed by everyone save England’s bowlers and Matt Prior, who took a painful blow to the ring finger on his right hand, a digit already heavily taped due to previous fumblings. Prior’s departure at tea for an x-ray left Paul Collingwood with the gloves, but there was no break and he is expected to resume today.

Before that inconvenience, Anderson had removed Brendan Nash, the left-hander playing-on to his stumps. Anderson finished with a deserved 5-87, though his ill-tempered attempts to chip bits off Fidel Edwards with the second new ball was gormless when England needed quick wickets.

© The Telegraph Group, London, 2009

SCOREBOARD

D. Smith lbw b Swann 11

C. Gayle c Strauss b Onions 54

R. Sarwan lbw b Onions 22

L. Simmons not out 3

S. Chanderpaul not out 18

Extras: (b 4, lb 1, w 2) 7

Total: (3 wickets; 22 overs) 115

To bat: B. Nash, D. Ramdin, J. Taylor, S. Benn, F. Edwards, L. Baker

Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-88, 3-89

Bowling: Anderson 5-2-20-0, Broad 5-1-21-0, Swann 3-0-13-1, Onions 6-0-46-2 (1w), Bresnan 3-0-10-0 (1w)

Toss: England, who chose to bat first

Umpires: S. Davis (Aus), A. de Silva (SL)

Third umpire: P. Hartley (Eng)