Vaughan will show no mercy

/ Editor / 12 June 2007 / Leave a Comment

England captain Michael Vaughan has urged his side to be ruthless in the fourth and final Test against the West Indies at Durham, starting on Friday.

England clinched the four-match series with a 60-run victory in the third Test at Old Trafford to take an unassailable 2-0 lead, but Vaughan is determined to continue the run at Chester-le-Street and will not let his players take their foot off the gas.

"I'm looking for 3-0," Vaughan said. "You've got to enjoy getting teams in the dirt. You've got to enjoy getting on top of them."

Punters appear to have the same view as 3-0 is the 1.71 favourite in the series correct score market.

The Yorkshire star became England's most successful captain ever after the win in Manchester, but the closeness of the contest gave him cause for concern.

The Windies were set a mammoth target of 455 but made a great fight of it, led by the superb Shivnarine Chanderpaul (1.59 favourite to finish as the tourists' top runscorer), only to be finally dismissed for 394.

"There was a little spell in the game in which we weren't as ruthless as I would have liked and we allowed them to sneak back into it," admitted Vaughan.

"But we will have to learn from that. We are now two-up and we will go to Durham and get a 3-0.

"Winning becomes a habit and losing becomes a habit. We are on a winning streak but you have to be ruthless to want to continue it."

England are the 1.73 favourites to win the final Test, while the draw is next best at 2.62. Those that fancy the Caribbeans to chalk up a win after their gutsy fightback last time out can get 16.5.