England boosted by Matt Prior injury news as West Indies slump towards defeat

Close: West Indies 310 all out (Overs 84.3) & 115-3 (Overs 22.0) trail England 569-6 dec (Overs 147.0) by 144 runs.

There were anxious moments for England this afternoon when wicketkeeper Matthew Prior was forced to leave the field with a hand injury. But it later emerged that Prior has not broken the ring finger of his right hand, despite heading to hospital for an X-ray.

Prior was clearly in severe discomfort after taking a ball from Tim Bresnan on the end of the finger, but he is expected to take the field tomorrow as normal. Paul Collingwood's short stint as fill-in wicketkeeper appears to be at an end.

On the field, two late wickets from Graham Onions kept England moving towards the win they need to complete a 2-0 series sweep over the West Indies, which would take them back up into fifth place in the world rankings.

In another example of his ability to turn one wicket into several, Onions dismissed Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle in the space of three balls.

Having already been dismissed for 310 in their first innings, and asked to follow on, the West Indies finished on 115 for three at the close. The tourists need to score another 144 runs tomorrow if they are to make England bat again.

It was another disappointing crowd at the Riverside today, but those who did show up were rewarded by some cavalier strokeplay as the West Indies tried to hit their way out of trouble.

In the final session, Gayle smashed 54 runs from 43 balls in an innings that would have looked more at home in the Indian Premier League. He hit two sixes, both straight drives back over the heads of seam bowlers who were operating at something in excess of 85mph.

But Gayle then got caught in two minds over a short ball from Onions. After shaping to pull it, he tried to abort the shot and only succeeded in fencing an easy catch to Andrew Strauss at first slip.

In the morning session - and the West Indies' first innings - Sarwan had completed his fourth hundred in eight innings against England. But he only faced a handful more balls before being dislodged by a superb bouncer from Stuart Broad, and falling for a round 100.

Tailender Sulieman Benn then produced some remarkable shots in a cameo of 35 runs from 48 balls. He lofted Graeme Swann for a fine straight drive and swatted Tim Bresnan - who is still looking for his first Test wicket - for a six over square leg.

The West Indian wicketkeeper, Dinesh Ramdin, also batted adhesively, scoring 55 before he was last man out. That dismissal gave James Anderson a haul of five for 87 - his sixth five-wicket analysis in Test cricket.

At the end of the West Indies' first innings, Anderson became drawn into a barrage of short balls at Fidel Edwards - who has hit him on the head in both Tests of this series.

Taking the new ball, Anderson tried to retaliate with a fusillade of bouncers, but could not quite find his target. Stuart Broad, coming on from the other end, had more success: he hit Edwards square on the peak of the helmet with the final ball before tea.