THE FIRST Test of the NPower series between the West Indies and England enters its fifth and final day at Lord's today with the home team on top and tipped to take the early lead in the four-match contest. At stumps at the end of a sunny but cold and windy day in St. John's Wood, the scoreboard read: England 568 and 325 for five declared; the West Indies 416 and 114 for three. With a minimum of 90 overs to go, with the West Indies needing 364 runs to win and England seven wickets to win, the odds on who will win are in England's favour despite the fact that Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chander-paul are alive and Dwayne Bravo, Ridley Jacobs and Omari Banks are still to come. Resuming on 71 without loss off 22 overs, England, led by captain Michael Vaughan, who ticked off his second century of the match, and golden boy Andrew Flintoff, who smashed the Windies bowling to all parts of the hallowed ground, scored 254 runs in 215 minutes off 54.4 overs before calling the declaration 25 minutes before tea and leaving the Windies a formidable 478 to win off a minimum 125 overs. UNDEFEATED 101 Batting as confidently as he did in the first innings when he scored 103, Vaughan, joining the action at 104 for two and never really looking in a hurry, stroked an undefeated 101 to become not only the seventh Englishman to score separate centuries in a Test match but also only the third batsman, behind George Headley (106 and 107 against the hosts in 1939) and Graham Gooch (333 and 123 against India in 1980), to achieve the feat at Lord's. Following his 140 in the second innings of the fourth and final Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground in April, Vaughan's 12th Test century was also his third in three consecutive innings against the West Indies. Starting the day with nothing but quick runs and a declaration on their minds, England lost three wickets in 15 overs for the addition of 46 runs. Marcus Trescothick, 34 over-night, was bowled by left-hander Pedro Collins for 45 at 86 for one; Andrew Strauss, 27 overnight, was caught by Ramnaresh Sarwan for 35 at 104 for two when he pulled a short delivery from Collins to square-leg; and Robert Key for 15 at 117 when Chanderpaul, moving quickly in the covers and throwing accurately, hit the stumps at the striker's end when a "yes-no-yes" call left the double centurion of the first innings well short of his crease. From there on, however, it was all England as Vaughan and Graham Thorpe and then Vaughan and Flintoff enjoyed themselves against a West Indies attack that was there for the picking. Batting as if they had all the time in the world, Vaughan and Thorpe posted 116 off 29 overs for the fourth wicket before the left-handed Thorpe, after stroking three lovely boundaries while scoring 38 off 73 deliveries, tapped a return catch to Gayle at 233 for four in the 66th over. SOURCE: JAMAICA-GLEANER.COM