Joe Root scored a century to go on Zak Crawley’s 121 as England declared ahead by 285 on the morning of the final day; The West Indies dropped to 67-4 shortly after tea with Jack Leach taking three wickets; Jason Holder and Nkrumah Bonner beat the match to a draw
Jason Holder’s vigilant tackles helped the West Indies secure a draw in the first Test against England.
An unbeaten fifth 80 wicket between Jason Holder and Nkrumah Bonner ensured that the first Test between the West Indies and England ended in a draw.
Zak Crawley’s 121 and another century from Joe Root helped propel England to a 349-6 second-inning total declared on the morning of the final day in Antigua, with the West Indies 4-0 at lunch chasing 286 to to earn.
Kraigg Braithwaite and John Campbell continued that strong start to the afternoon session with a starting position of 59, but the pair split in quick succession and the home team fell further to 67-4 shortly after tea thanks in large part to three Jack Leach wickets.
But Holder (37 not eliminated) and Bonner (38 not eliminated) stood their ground and saw the hosts go into the close at 147-4 to salvage the tie, and attention now turns quickly to the second Test in Barbados which begins on Wednesday.
Resuming at 219-1, England lost Crawley in the fifth over of the day for their second-highest score in Test cricket thanks to excellent bowling from Jason Holder, sending a fuller delivery that fooled the Kent man.
However, Root held his ground at the other end, bringing out the 24th century of his Test career and batting third at No. 3 to move into second place above Kevin Pietersen on the All-Time list. England before leaving for 109 after becoming the first of Alzarri Joseph’s three victims. .
Dan Lawrence left no doubt about the tourists’ intentions on day five with a blustery 37-for-36 that included four fours and a six to help pick up the pace on what had been a slow scoring pitch.
His cameo came to an end when he lobbed one with the outside of his bat to Veerasammy Permaul on Joseph’s bowling backspot and that preceded a mini-collapse when Ben Stokes holed out Sharmarh Brooks in front of Kemar Roach for a run. . 13 ball and Ben Foakes was pitched by Joseph (3-78) for one.
Early-innings centurion Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes teamed up to lead England to a 285 lead before Root called them in to signal the declaration, eventually giving them four overs to bowl in the West Indies before of lunch.
With Mark Wood sidelined for the rest of the match with an elbow injury, Root opted for a combination of seam and spin with the new ball and nearly paid off an eight-overs bounty in reply when Campbell’s ill-timed sweep of Jack Leach was put. down by Crawley with the batsman still at two.
In fact, Campbell in particular had a couple of tough times on the way to him and Kraigg Brathwaite riding a half-century opening spot. However, the southpaw would eventually run out of luck.
It was Stokes who made the breakthrough in the over 25, catching Brathwaite (33) lbw and ending what had been a good opening pair, followed by Campbell (22) who bowled one of Leach’s bowling straight to Overton. to the half. -on.
Leach’s second, which came when Brooks left-armed Crawley for just five, sparked the tea break and left the West Indies in disarray and, sure enough, with what little hope the hosts still harbored of winning this game. .
It was now a case of having to dig when play resumed, but a moment of madness from Jermaine Blackwood as he carelessly hit one from Leach that caught him lbw, and the 30-year-old finally returned to the pavilion after asking him to review a decision that I had no chance to cancel.
At the other end, however, Holder was vigilant and first-inning centurion Bonner took an incredibly patient approach as he took 34 balls to get off the mark.
England, meanwhile, had no luck with reviews after choosing not to ask for another look when a lbw appeal went against Leach (3-57) despite subsequent television replays indicating the ball would have hit the trunnions and then ultra-edge showing that Holder didn’t get an edge on one of the roulette wheels when they were convinced they did.
And then, when Overton had a lbw appeal against Bonner while he had 25 dice, the batter’s review saved him after showing an inside edge before hitting his pads. However, both teams will get plenty of positives in the second test when it kicks off in four days’ time.
England captain Joe Root, speaking to BT Sport
“I am very proud of the team today and throughout the week. After that first hour of the first day, we found ourselves in a difficult situation, but we showed character and skill level. The calm nature and not panicking, especially in the part Back from the Ashes tour, and get back in the game [was very good].
“I thought we got better and better as the game went on. Our closers applied on a docile wicket and I thought Leachy was brilliant. He gave us great options in the early innings, keeping the game going and took the wickets today. I can’t blame him.” to nobody”.
Former West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, speaking on BT Sport
“If I were Kraigg Brathwaite or a senior player in the West Indies locker room, I would have found it a bit disrespectful that with two fixed batsmen and the field playing as it was, England still felt they could get six wickets, going all the way to five balls.
“England would have done that against Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan? I think the answer is no, so why have they done it against us? Now we have two tests to prove we are better than England think we are. “.