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Darren Sammy took seven wickets on his Test debut at Old Trafford here on Saturday but West Indies were still left facing a series defeat against England.

At stumps, on the third day of the third Test, West Indies were 22 for one in their second innings — needing a further 433 to reach their victory target of 455 with two days to spare.

A win for England would put them an unbeatable 2-0 up in the four-match series with one to play.

Sammy’s haul of seven for 66 in 21.3 overs saw him take three wickets for no runs in five balls and six for 12 in 33. He was the ninth West Indian to take five wickets on Test debut as England were bowled out for 313 featuring 106 from opener Alastair Cook.

Sammy’s were the best Test debut innings figures for West Indies since Alf Valentine’s eight for 104 at Old Trafford in 1950.

And they were the best by anyone in a Test match at the Manchester venue since West Indies fast bowling great Malcolm Marshall’s seven for 22 in 1988.

But before the close West Indies captain Daren Ganga was lbw for nought to fast bowler Stephen Hamison, in a near replay of his first innings dismissal. Chris Gayle was 11 not out and Devon Smith 10 not out.

Accurate 23-year-old Sammy, the first St Lucian to play Test cricket, provided a lesson to the quicker bowlers on both teams and struck three times in the 75th over.

He squared up Ian Bell, who edged the over’s first ball to wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, who later had to leave the field after being hit in the face by off-spinner Gayle.

Matthew Prior went in similiar fashion next ball before Liam Plunkett survived the hat-trick, the ball just missing the outside edge.

But two balls later Plunkett was also out for nought, brilliantly caught by Dwayne Bravo diving forward from second slip.

Earlier in the day Sammy held a fine one-handed caught and bowled chance to dismiss England captain Michael Vaughan for 40. His fifth wicket came when Harmison edged to Runako Morton in the gully and he then got rid of Paul Collingwood for 42 with the aid of a catch by Ganga in the gully.

Sammy then wrapped up the innings when last man Monty Panesar edged to Gayle at first slip. Cook, 89 not out at tea, completed his century with a pulled four off Sammy, having then faced 198 balls with 10 boundaries.

It was the sixth time in his 17 Tests the left-handed opener had reached three figures and the second this series after his 105 in the drawn first Test at Lord’s.

Only Australia’s Don Bradman (eight), India’s Sachin Tendulkar (eight) and Pakistan’s Javed Miandad (seven) had scored more Test hundreds at the same age as the 22-year-old Cook.

Score Board

England won toss

England 1st inns 370 (A N Cook 60, M P Vaughan 41, I R Bell 97, M J Prior 40, Extras 47)

West Indies 1st inns 229 (D S Smith 40, S Chanderpaul 50, Extras 42; M S Panesar 4-50)

England 2nd inns (overnight 34-1)

A J Strauss lbw b Edwards 0

A N Cook lbw b Gayle 106

*M P Vaughan c & b Sammy 40

K P Pietersen hit wicket b Bravo 68

P D Collingwood c Ganga b Sammy 42

I R Bell c Ramdin b Sammy 2

†M J Prior c Ramdin b Sammy 0

L E Plunkett c Bravo b Sammy 0

S J Harmison c Morton b Sammy 16

R J Sidebottom not out 8

M S Panesar c Gayle b Sammy 0

Extras (b2, lb6, w6, nb12, pen5) 31

Total (all out, 85.3 overs) 313

Fall: 1-1, 2-99, 3-221, 4-265, 5-272, 6-272, 7-272, 8-300, 9-313

Bowling: Edwards 12-0-54-1 (8nb); Taylor 10-0-42-0; Collymore 7-2-24-0 (1nb, 2w); Sammy 21.3-2-66-7 (2nb); Chanderpaul 11-1-43-0; Bravo 8-2-14-1; Gayle 16-0-57-1

West Indies 2nd inns

C H Gayle not out 11

*D Ganga lbw b Harmison 0

D S Smith not out 10

Extras (w1) 1

Total (one wkt, 8 overs) 22

To bat: S Chanderpaul, R S Morton, D J Bravo, D J G Sammy, †D Ramdin, C D Collymore, J E Taylor, F H Edwards

Fall: 1-4

Bowling: Sidebottom 2-0-8-0; Harmison 4-1-7-1 (1w); Panesar 2-0-7-0

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