Cricket: Pietersen needs to get England off to a flying start.

ENGLAND will rely heavily on star batsman Kevin Pietersen to manufacture a winning position on the final day of the Test series against West Indies.

Pietersen was resuming on 34 not out today with England 82 runs ahead of their hosts and with seven second-innings wickets intact.

With time running out in the contest and Andrew Strauss' team needing to bowl out the West Indians to level things at 1-1, Pietersen's ability to score quickly will be crucial.

But even if he does deliver, England appear to be clinging to the slimmest of hopes.

It looks a long shot at best, given that West Indies batted for two days for 544, a two-run deficit, first time around.

"We have to go in believing we can do it," said off-spinner Graeme Swann, who claimed half of the six Windies wickets to fall on the penultimate day.

"We need to be as positive as possible, hopefully get a score on the board and create some doubts in the minds of the West Indian batsmen.

"We got blitzed out in Jamaica on a wicket which was probably better than the one we are now playing on.

"We will be hoping for a magic effort from somebody.

"We've toiled hard in this series and have not got a lot to show for it, so we probably feel due one or two magic sessions."

West Indies are on the verge of a first Test series victory in five years and will no doubt take a lot of persuasion to take anything other than a cautious route.

Swann said: "If we can get a decent score on the board, with Chris Gayle batting at the top of the order, the West Indian way is to be more positive than negative.

"I am not sure how many of their batsmen will see a relatively small total on the board and be happy to defend."

Missed chances in the field and some poor umpiring decisions meant England toiled for five hours on day 4.

"It is always hard to keep going when it's 40 degrees and you see the Digicel girls dancing 30 yards away," said off-spinner Swann.