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Monty Panesar and Ryan Sidebottom put England in charge of the third Test against West Indies on a bizarre second day, here at Old Trafford on Friday.

There was no hint of the chaos to come when Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett produced a wildly erratic display. But Panesar took 4-50 and Sidebottom 3-48 as the Windies slumped from 216-4 to 229 all out within 44 deliveries.

England, for whom Ian Bell hit 97 in their first-innings 370, had a lead of 141 which they added 34 to for the loss of Andrew Strauss, who failed again.

But the main talking points were the way a weak Windies side capitulated against Sidebottom and Panesar, and another worrying performance from Harmison and Plunkett.

The Durham duo looked devoid of confidence as they sent down a succession of wayward deliveries which had keeper Matt Prior diving around, particularly down the leg-side.

The lively Old Trafford surface was tailor-made for Harmison in particular but too often he failed to get the ball in the right areas to exploit the help on offer.

Devon Smith (40) looked comfortable against the seamers and spinner Panesar until he drove the left-armer into his heel and Bell pouched the rebound at silly-point.

That made it 157-4 and England had a window of opportunity they scarcely deserved but Chanderpaul and Bravo set about some more indifferent bowling to rally their team.

Sidebottom and Panesar entertained with a 32-run last-wicket stand but it was with the cherry in hand later on that they really did the damage and England are now overwhelming favourites for a series-clinching victory.

Score Board

England won toss

England 1st inns (overnight 296-7)

A J Strauss lbw b Taylor 6

A N Cook c Bravo b Sammy 60

*M P Vaughan b Collymore 41

K P Pietersen c Bravo b Collymore 9

P D Collingwood lbw b Taylor 10

I R Bell c Ramdin b Collymore 97

†M J Prior c Morton b Bravo 40

L E Plunkett b Edwards 13

S J Harmison c Ramdin b Edwards 18

R J Sidebottom b Edwards 15

M S Panesar not out 14

Extras (b15, lb8, w6, nb18) 47

Total (all out, 105.1 overs) 370

Fall: 1-13, 2-117, 3-132, 4-132, 5-166, 6-264, 7-285, 8-324, 9-338

Bowling: Taylor 20-1-67-2 (3nb, 2w); Edwards 20.1-2-94-3 (12nb, 1w); Collymore 25-5-60-3 (3nb, 1w); Bravo 23-4-94-1 (2w); Sammy 17-7-32-1

West Indies 1st inns

C H Gayle c Cook b Plunkett 23

*D Ganga lbw b Harmison 5

D S Smith c Bell b Panesar 40

R S Morton c Strauss b Harmison 35

S Chanderpaul c Pietersen b Sidebottom 50

D J Bravo c Prior b Sidebottom 24

†D Ramdin c Pietersen b Sidebottom 5

D J G Sammy c Collingwood b Panesar 1

J E Taylor c Strauss b Panesar 0

C D Collymore c Collingwood b Panesar 4

F H Edwards not out 0

Extras (b20, lb10, w9, nb3) 42

Total (all out, 52.4 overs) 229

Fall: 1-17, 2-49, 3-116, 4-157, 5-216, 6-224, 7-225, 8-225, 9-225

Bowling: Sidebottom 12-3-48-3; Harmison 11-2-53-2 (1nb, 4w); Plunkett 12-0-43-1 (1nb, 1w); Panesar 16.4-5-50-4; Collingwood 1-0-5-0 (1nb)

England 2nd inns

A J Strauss lbw b Edwards 0

A N Cook not out 12

*M P Vaughan not out 10

Extras (b1, nb6, pen5) 12

Total (one wkt, 6 overs) 34

To bat: K P Pietersen, P D Collingwood, I R Bell, †M J Prior, L E Plunkett, R J Sidebottom, S J Harmison, M S Panesar

Fall: 1-1

Bowling: Edwards 3-0-16-1 (6nb); Taylor 2-0-12-0; Collymore 1-1-0-0

Series: England lead the 4-match series 1-0

Test debut: Darren Sammy (West Indies)

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and B F Bowden (New Zealand). TV umpire: P J Hartley. Match referee: A G Hurst (Australia)

Previous matches: May 17-21 1st Test Lord’s, match drawn. May 25-28 2nd Test Leeds, England won by an innings and 283 runs

Fourth & final Test: June 15-19, Chester-le-Street