Shivnarine Chanderpaul kisses the turf after scoring his century on the third day of the fourth Test at Chester-le-Street on Sunday. (AFP)

Durham: Another unbeaten century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and a late burst of three wickets in 17 balls on Sunday gave West Indies a realistic chance of winning the fourth Test against England.

Chanderpaul scored his second century (unbeaten 136) in a week to lift his team to 287 all out in the first innings and then Fidel Edwards took three for 40 to reduce England to 121 for four on the third day.

Chanderpaul has now batted 804 minutes in the series without being dismissed.

England started their first innings reply confidently and looked comfortable at 110 for one. But Edwards removed captain Michael Vaughan for 19 and star batsman Kevin Pietersen for a duck. At the other end, Corey Collymore dispatched hapless nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard.

Andrew Strauss scored a much-needed unbeaten 72 after a series of poor scores in the four-match series, which England have already won 2-0.

Resuming on Day III on 132 for four, the West Indies lost quick wickets, with Chanderpaul putting up strong resistance against an in-form English bowling attack. He and tail-ender Corey Collymore put on 58 in a last-wicket partnership as the 32-year-old Chanderpaul scored 136 not out in six and a half hours.

The resistance took the edge off a strong England bowling performance. Chanderpaul carefully kept the strike to nurse Collymore, making the first innings a respectable total.

Chanderpaul’s 136 included 18 fours and one sweetly struck six off Monty Panesar. It followed his 116 not out at Old Trafford where the West Indies lost by 60 runs. Sunday’s 136 was his 16th century in Tests. Left-arm swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom took his first five-wicket haul, returning figures of five for 88 as England bowlers battled to maintain dominance.

With one and a half days lost to bad weather, the damp conditions suited England’s swing and seam attack.

The left-handed Guyanese bat, West Indies’ most senior player since the retirement of Brian Lara, took one minute short of five hours to score his 100, hitting 14 fours, many of them majestic drives and glides. By the time Collymore was trapped leg before wicket by Panesar, he had batted for 393 minutes.

Chanderpaul, who was dropped in the slips by Ian Bell on nine, kissed the pitch upon completion of his hundred. He has batted for more than 19 hours in the series, despite missing one of the four matches through injury.