Strauss has now scored three hundreds in the series
England skipper Andrew Strauss said he was confident of bowling West Indies out twice to win the fifth Test despite an attritional first day in Trinidad.
Strauss was 139 not out at close of play as England reached 258-2 against a defensively-minded home side.
"There's not a lot in it for the bowlers but as a batsman you never feel comfortable either," said Strauss.
"We've got the weapons to take wickets and with two spinners hopefully we'll benefit from the two dusty patches."
Strauss, who became the first England captain since Graham Gooch to score hundreds in three successive Tests, added that he felt in the best form of his career.
"It's been a nice little purple patch for me," he said. "When you're in form you've got to cash in and thankfully I did that today.
"At the moment it feels comfortable, I'm playing balls on their merit and long may it continue. Today was quite attritional at times and after lunch we tried to take the game to them but it was hard to do that.
"In the final session I felt we needed to push on a bit more but on the opening day you need to make sure you build a big score."
England are confident Owais Shah will be able to bat again on day two after retiring with cramp in his left hand.
"The medical staff realise there's an issue there he has to work on," said Strauss. "Other than pumping yourself with fluids there's not much else you can do, but hopefully he'll be OK to come out again on Saturday."
England's attack includes two specialist spinners in Graeme Swann and the recalled Monty Panesar, along with debutant pace bowler Amjad Khan.
Explaining the team selection, Strauss said: "It was a tough call because there were so many different options and permutations we could employ.
"We went for Amjad Khan because he offers us something different, he has fresh legs and West Indies haven't seen him before - that is an exciting selection.
"And Monty has great pedigree as a spinner and has taken a lot of five-wicket hauls. There is no reason he can't have a big impact on the game as well."
West Indies coach John Dyson, meanwhile, admitted his side were focused on preserving their lead in the series.
"We are trying to get the opportunity to win but obviously we are not going to totally make the pace of play," he said.
"We are in the position we are in and we are quite happy to maintain that position.
"It was a difficult day. The wicket was very slow, but we had a reasonable day. It's a reflection of the pitches - they have offered very little for the pace bowlers and spinners."
He defended the decision to drop front-line spinner Sulieman Benn in marked contrast to England's thinking.
"It was decided that on two occasions on dry, flat wickets Sulieman didn't really go through the England batting. He did in Jamaica but not since, so we decided on this occasion to go for the extra batsman," Dyson explained.
West Indies went into the game without pace bowler Jerome Taylor because of injury, and suffered a second blow when batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul suffered a groin problem while fielding.
"He has strained a groin muscle and we won't know the full extent of the injury until he has had full treatment after play and a night's rest on it," Dyson added.
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