'It boils down to the first hour tomorrow'
West Indies captain Daren Ganga, coach David Moore and batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul spoke with the media after day four of the third Test match at Old Trafford.
Following are excerpts from their responses to various issues raised with them.
CAPTAIN DAREN GANGA:
On how day four panned out:
This has been a very good day. The mere fact that we only lost four wickets today was definitely a positive for us. Having to chase a total in excess of 400 to win a Test match will always be an uphill battle. The guys stuck to their task and everyone contributed. Shivnarine Chanderpaul led the way with his knock and all the other guys supported. Runako Morton laid that foundation, Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin all contributed.
On what the approach will be on the final day:
We are very optimistic looking forward to tomorrow. The game would be over probably in two sessions. If we can bat for two sessions I am sure we will win the Test match. It will break the record for the highest total chased to win a Test match and we've got a very good chance. It all boils down to the first hour tomorrow, laying the foundation with Shiv and Denesh. If they can carry us to lunch we are in with a big shout of winning this Test match. The guys have played hard today and played well led by Shiv.
SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL:
On how the batsmen approached the second innings:
We batted pretty well today. Devon (Smith) and Runako (Morton) set it up for us and (Dwayne) Bravo came in and played a good innings. (Denesh) Ramdin is there with me and hopefully we can take it further tomorrow and probably come out with a win in this game.
On how the batsmen planned the innings specifically:
We were looking for partnerships and to take it session by session and that was how we basically approached it.
On what the approach will be on the final day:
Tomorrow we will go out and continue doing the same thing and look to bat out the first two session. If we do that we will be close to winning the game.
HEAD COACH DAVID MOORE:
On the batting performance in the second innings:
The boys batted very well following (Darren) Sammy's bowling performance yesterday (on Saturday). It gave us momentum but unfortunately we did not get the start last evening or this morning that we would have liked but in the end we've had a very reasonable day.
On whether the West Indies can realistically win the game:
I think we're in it. They (England) have only taken two wickets in the last two sessions (on day four). We batted very well and we've got two quality batsmen in at the moment. We lost wickets very quickly in the first innings and I hope that Denesh) Ramdin and (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul can keep batting for as long as possible to get us as close to the target and then leave it up to Sammy and the rest of the boys.
On whether Darren Sammy and the other batsmen are capable of supporting Shivnarine Chanderpaul with the bat:
No doubt about that. Sammy is very gutsy as you can see with the ball, he's very passionate and certainly he has the ability to support Shiv. We're looking forward for 9,10 and 11 to contribute if they have to but we're looking forward to knock it off before that.
On Shivnarine Chanderpaul's love of batting and providing the backbone of the Windies second innings:
Chanderpaul loves batting at any time but he loves batting with his back against the wall so he's a classic Test batsman. He is underrated and under estimated and people do that at their own peril, Chanderpaul is a world class cricketer.
On what it would mean to win the game:
It will be a world record which would be fantastic if we can do it. In retrospect if we had scored more runs in the first innings and batted a little longer we would have been a lot closer than we are already so we've got those things to contemplate later on but at the moment we certainly looking to chase down the target.
Chanderpaul loves batting at any time but he loves batting with his back against the wall so he's a classic Test batsman. He is underrated and under estimated and people do that at their own peril, Chanderpaul is a world class cricketer.