England was 221 for five in reply to West Indies' first innings total of 426, a deficit of 205, at close on the fourth day of the third Test at Edgbaston here on Sunday.
Ian Bell was unbeaten on 76 while nightwatchman Steven Finn was yet to score.
Earlier, West Indies backed up a stunning last-wicket stand featuring Tino Best's record 95 with early wickets before the host recovered.
Best made the highest-ever score by a No. 11 batsman during an extraordinary 10th wicket partnership of 143 with wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, who posted an unbeaten 107.
Best's innings surpassed India paceman Zaheer Khan's 75 against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004 as the highest Test score by a No. 11.
And his partnership of 143 with Ramdin was a West Indies' record for the 10th wicket in Tests, overtaking the 106 shared by Carl Hooper and Courtney Walsh against Pakistan at St. John's in 1993.
Ramdin responded to criticism by the legendary Sir Vivian Richards in an unusual manner, flashing a note that read ‘Yeah Viv talk nah' soon after completing his century.
Poor run
A string of poor performances in the ongoing Test series had prompted Richards to describe Ramdin as a “lost guy”.
Just after completing his century, Ramdin surprised one and all by taking a note out of his pocket and holding it aloft as he pumped his clenched fists.
His unusual celebration was promptly caught by the television cameras. Ramdin had a poor start to the series with scores of 6, 43, 1 and 6 in the four innings before this.
