England will start the final day of the fifth Test leading by 82 after Shivnarine Chanderpaul steered the West Indies to 544.
Chanderpaul makes most of referral decision to hit unbeaten 147
Fifth Test Match
Trinidad - Day Four
England 546-6 dec (P D Collingwood 161, A J Strauss 142, M J Prior 131 no) & 80-3 v West Indies 544 (S Chanderpaul 147 no, B P Nash 109, C H Gayle 102)
England face a dramatic race against time to win the fifth Test after centuries from Brendan Nash and Shivnarine Chanderpaul moved the West Indies a step closer to a first series win in five years.
The duo shared a record fifth-wicket stand of 234 to help the hosts reach 544, putting them just two behind their opponents' total of 546-6.
Nash made 109 - his maiden Test ton - while Chanderpaul benefited from a controversial referral decision to finish unbeaten on 147.
Quick runs
Needing runs in a hurry to have any hope of making it 1-1 in the series, England raced to 80-3, meaning they will start the fifth day 82 ahead.
Andrew Strauss (14), Owais Shah (1) and Alastair Cook (24) all perished in the pursuit of quick runs, though the wickets made no real difference to the tourists' situation.
Their slim hopes now rest on some lusty hitting from the likes of Kevin Pietersen, who was 34 not out at the close, to set up a situation where they can declare with a decent amount of time left to try and take 10 wickets.
But, while all three results are still possible, the hosts will be heavily favoured to get at least a draw, an outcome that would clinch them the Wisden Trophy.
England had finally managed to wrap up the West Indies' first innings after 178.4 overs, though they were unable to find a way to remove Chanderpaul.
They did think they had dismissed the stubborn left-hander when he was given out caught behind by umpire Daryl Harper off the bowling of Graeme Swann.
The batsman quickly made the 'T' sign to call for a referral and after several looks from a number of angles, television official Aleem Dar conversed with Harper to tell him to overturn his original decision.
The reprieve - despite pictures never clearly showing if the bat had hit either ball or boot - came at a crucial time in the contest straight after lunch.
Having been in need of wickets in a hurry, the tourists had endured a frustrating first session that included another missed opportunity in the field.
Wicketkeeper Matt Prior was the guilty party this time, failing to cling onto a chance off Chanderpaul when he had just 56, Panesar the unlucky bowler.
James Anderson in particular sent down an impressive seven-over spell that yielded no reward, the Lancastrian making Nash sweat on 99.
The Australian-born left-hander eventually managed to get through to three figures before falling in the second over of the afternoon, Stuart Broad tempting him into a drive that ended up in the hands of Paul Collingwood at second slip.
Agonising wait
Had Dar decided Chanderpaul was out soon after, England would have believed they were firmly alive again. Instead they were made to wait until just over an hour from the close to finally get going with the bat again.
Ryan Hinds livened up proceedings with an entertaining 23 that included a lofted six off Swann, though a second attempt to hit out against the same bowler only resulted in him being stumped by a mile.
The off-spinner also removed Chris Gayle, who had been diagnosed with a Grade One tear of his hamstring following a scan. The West Indies skipper came out with a runner after tea but added just two to his overnight hundred when opposite number Strauss took a wonderful reaction catch at short cover.
Anderson eventually got the wicket his bowling display deserved when some reverse swing trapped a bemused Denesh Ramdin lbw for 15 and Broad removed Fidel Edwards after the tailender had faced 38 balls to make eight.
Swann ended England's agony in the field by getting last-man Lionel Baker lbw offering no stroke, this time the referral system working in the bowler's favour to give him final figures of 3-130.
