Chris Woakes takes 3-48 to help cut the West Indies to 95-6 in response to England’s 204 opening innings overall; Joshua Da Silva (54th) brings up the fourth Test fifty just before the stumps as he and the queue secure the hosts a 28-run stump lead.
The West Indies queue saw the team past England’s first-innings score of 204 on day two in Grenada
The West Indies tail moved similarly to England’s on the first night as the hosts took a 28-run lead to close the second day of the third Test in Grenada at 232-8.
England had cut the West Indies to 95-6 after a three-wicket flurry from Chris Woakes (3-48) after lunch, but as the pitch began to flatten out, Joshua Da Silva (54th) first added 49 for the eighth wicket with Alzarri Joseph (28th) and then an uninterrupted 55 for the ninth with Kemar Roach (25th) to see the home team beyond the England marker.
In the final flourishes of the day, the visitors claimed the second new ball, but with their attacking pace flagging, Da Silva brought back a fourth Test fifty with an excellent four stroke through midwicket as the runs flowed late in the day.
The tourists, having been eliminated by 204 to close out the first day (Jack Leach (41st) and Saqib Mahmood (49) sharing a 90-run last-wicket position after suffering their own mid-order collapse) started the day. bad when Kraigg Brathwaite (17) and John Campbell (35) safely traded the threat of the new ball putting in a partnership of fifty.
England’s closers couldn’t carry the same threat as the swift West Indies the day before, guilty of throwing too wide and not finding the right length on the livelier surface set up for the series decider. But Ben Stokes (2-40), as is often the case, stepped up and bagged the first wicket, getting one to stay low and cover Brathwaite up front.
The visitors, buoyed by the advance, suddenly came to life and struck twice more in as many overs before the lunch interval, Shamarh Brooks (13) falling to Mahmood (1-39) in the same way as Brathwaite, and Campbell gloving a glove. Craig Overton (2-71) threw a shot to the side of the leg after being troubled by an extended period of short-pitch bowling in which he took two hits to the helmet.
Overton’s spell had given England something of a role model and Woakes adopted it accordingly after the interval, taking out Nkrumah Bonner (4) and Jason Holder (0) in the same over, before adding Jermaine Blackwood ( 18) later in the spell, getting the benefit of the doubt on a marginal lbw call.
He left the West Indies reeling at 95-6, still some 109 runs behind, but the last four wickets proved much more difficult for the tourists as the field dimmed and the ball got older. Kyle Mayers (28) and Joseph made the most of it, playing a couple of enterprising cameos to congratulate Da Silva by dropping anchor at the other end, though both ultimately perished from loose blows.
Stokes again had the golden touch when Mayers meekly gave Mahmood a straight chip midway through just before tea, while Joseph was the only wicket to fall in the final session when he toed behind as he lined up a wild swing. in Overton. .
An increasingly frustrated England overcame Roach’s outside advantage on multiple occasions late in the day but crucially failed to find the advantage, while da Silva grew in confidence against an increasingly grueling attack and managed a very early half-century. deserved and potentially crucial. shortly before closing.
West Indies and England will resume the third Test at 2pm UK time on Saturday. Follow the text commentary one after another from 1:45pm on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
