Bell and Vaughan steady England

Ian Bell struck a debut Test half-century as England regrouped on the opening day of the summer finale at The Oval.

Warwickshire's Bell, called up due to Graham Thorpe's broken finger, was given a bruising introduction to the top level when, having walked to the crease with his side in trouble at 64 for three, a Fidel Edwards bouncer clipped him on the shoulder.

The 22-year-old got off the mark, from his 12th delivery, with a loose slash over the top of the slips for four.

But he kept his composure to forge an impressive century stand with captain Michael Vaughan, bringing up his landmark with an off-drive for four, from his 110th delivery.

Vaughan reached his 50 first, shortly after tea when he leg-glanced Edwards to the fine-leg rope and England were 198 for three with 30 overs of the first day remaining.

West Indies made an impressive start in their bid to prevent England's quest to win seven consecutive Tests for the first time in 75 years.

Only twice before have England won seven in a row - between 1885-88 and 1928-29 - and Vaughan chose to bat first as the modern-day side sought a clean sweep this summer.

However, they lost two wickets in quick succession after lunch, having reached the interval with only Andrew Strauss dismissed.

Marcus Trescothick flicked a full delivery from Edwards straight to square leg and Robert Key's demise arose from a loose stroke at medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo.

Even before that double strike, the scoring rate - regularly around four runs per over for England during the summer - was well below three.

Drizzle and grey clouds closed in shortly after the toss, delaying the start of the final npower Test match of the summer by 20 minutes.

And further damp weather arrived only a handful of overs in but umpires Darrell Hair and Rudi Koertzen decided to remain in the middle and their decision was vindicated as no further interruptions occurred.

In fact, batting conditions were almost perfect deep into the final session as the fourth-wicket pair upped the tempo with a flurry of boundaries, quite a contrast to earlier on when Corey Collymore beat the outside edge with regularity.

It was youngsters Edwards and Bravo who made the significant inroads and brought Bell, who has eased past 1,000 first-class runs this season, to the crease.

West Indies recalled Lawson - who overcame a wayward start to dismiss Strauss with a bouncer which steepled to midwicket from an attempted pull - and Dwayne Smith for Dave Mohammed and Pedro Collins as they sought to prevent a series whitewash in south London.