WORCESTERSHIRE'S Vikram Solanki helped put England 'A' in sight of victory after the third day of the Busta International Shield match against West Indies 'B' in Grenada went entirely to a pre-arranged plan.

But despite finishing off on a high note by taking two wickets in the final 10 overs, Mark Alleyne's side were taking nothing for granted and were quickly working on a plan for the final day to snap up the eight wickets that stood in the way of success.

"The idea is to knock a few over first thing then Brownie can come in and finish them off," said Solanki, who made 89 and formed an enduring second wicket partnership of 125 with Surrey batsman Ian Ward to steer England towards a dominant position in their opening match.

"But it is not the sort of wicket that we can come in and run through them.

"It is a placid pitch -- difficult to keep the scoreboard ticking over but also difficult to take wickets -- so we are expecting to grind them out with a couple of wickets per session and then perhaps knock the tail over a bit sharper."

England 'A' are also without the services of Yorkshire fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom, who strained a hamstring when he was batting on the first day of the match.

"The West Indies guys don't like to be tied down so we need to keep them under pressure," added Solanki.

"The pitch was looking a bit uneven last night. It has held together well but towards the end, there were a couple of balls that did something.

"We assess each session and work out what we want to do and yesterday things couldn't have gone better."

The third day belonged to England with strong performances all round.

Firstly with the ball, when the last four West Indian wickets were snapped up in the morning session for 55 runs. Then with the bat, the scoring rate in the second innings maintained at around four an over to allow Alleyne his early declaration.

Richie Richardson's side was set 329 to win but the loss of David Bernard in the second over then Kurt Wilkins at the end was a major setback.

After going 36 first class games without a defeat, England 'A' were hopeful of maintaining that magnificent record.

"Winning is a good habit to get into," commented Solanki.

"To start with a win would be fantastic because we are expecting the regional sides to be a lot stronger than this West Indies 'B' side, so it will give us confidence against them."