England close 217-1, a 153 lead, after day four of the first Test against the West Indies; Zak Crawley hits his second test ton in an unbroken second-wicket partnership with Joe Root (84th); West Indies previously pitched 375, a 64 early-inning lead
Zak Crawley finished day four undefeated with 117
Zak Crawley scored his second Test century as England dominated on day four of the first Test against the West Indies.
England’s opener (117th) put up an unbroken 193 with captain Joe Root (84th) for the second wicket as the tourists were given the opportunity to push for victory on day five, although the tame nature of the field of Antigua means that a tie remains by far the most likely outcome.
After the West Indies were eliminated by 375 in the first over of the day, England lost Alex Lees early but closed 217-1, a 153 lead, with Crawley and Root first erasing the 64-run deficit in the first innings. before pressing. to put tourists in a strong position at closing.
They would have hoped to be further ahead, but rain caused the game to end prematurely and Root must now contemplate how long to hit on Day 5.
That decision is likely to be influenced by how well the pitch is maintained, as well as the fitness of fast bowler Mark Wood, who will continue to receive treatment after picking up an elbow injury on Day Three with England keeping hope that will be fit to play. the final innings of the match.
England needed just three balls to conclude the West Indies’ first innings in the morning, Jack Leach (2-79) caught Jayden Seales (0) lbw with just two runs added to the night’s total.
Then it fell to England’s infamously fragile higher order to try to bring them to parity and beyond.
The course gave them every chance to do so, but with Kemar Roach swinging the new ball prodigiously, it wasn’t going to be easy and what ended as a day to treasure for Crawley was almost one to forget as he received lbw without scoring. . .
He successfully checked and Roach’s delivery was shown to have swung down and after earning that reprieve, the Kent right-hander went off the mark with a cap that came off his pads.
Newcomer Lees (6) and Crawley made it through the first 10 overs without any other real scares, but just when they might have thought they had made it through the tougher conditions, Roach covered the former with lbw, a nearly identical dismissal to the former. entry.
The southpaw went over to no avail and the over ended with another overhaul, this time from the Windies for another shout from Roach to Crawley lbw – again he went the way of the England man as his off-stump guard allowed him to get out of the line of the stumps
Root was forced to struggle through his first 20 balls or so as Crawley continued to score freely through the side of the leg as players took aim at their pads, but by lunch they both looked comfortable and England had converted a 64-run deficit. in eight. -run lead.
The first gust of rain of the day came shortly after the break, but it quickly passed and Crawley regained his 100-ball half-century.
With the ball softening with every change and the initial swing long gone, the Windies’ threat was almost non-existent and with left arm Veerasammy Permaul struggling, Root was able to pull out a dead fifty, his 54th in Testing. late in the afternoon session.
In that same over, Permaul thought he had caught Crawley in a slip through his boot, but replays showed it was a knock and England’s opener showed how well he was seeing it with a couple of commanding slices just right. before tea.
A wicketless session of 74 runs had extended the lead to 82 and the pattern of play continued into the evening, the West Indies bowlers bowling as much as they could against the well placed duo from England, finding very little help from the surface and were comfortably rejected.
More than that, Root and Crawley also managed to score a bit quicker with the latter racing into the 90s with back-to-back limits – the former being a bit fortuitous as a thick edge sailed up and over the slips, but the latter was dominant. the ball slipped past the point back to take him past 1,000 runs in Trials.
Crawley’s big moment came in the 58th minute when, for the umpteenth time in the inning, he bowled the ball midway down the wicket and came back for two to complete a well-deserved hundred.
Only 5.2 more overs were possible on the day before the rain came, during which time Seales resorted to the short ball ploy to no avail and further reduced the chances of a positive outcome in the match.
Root will be hoping to complete their own century, while England will still no doubt be trying to put themselves in a position to push to grab the 10 wickets they’ll need to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
England starter Zak Crawley speaking to BT Sport: “This entry is up to the task, it was a really special feeling. I had a tough year last year and probably at times I thought I wouldn’t get this opportunity again, so I’m delighted. I was quite nervous in the nineties, but [Joe Root] it helped me a lot. He’s probably the best hitter we’ve ever had.
“We’re certainly going to try to win it tomorrow. We’re going to try.”
David Gower, speaking to BT Sport: “It’s going to be hard to force a win – look at the way the pitch has played for four days. It’s done very little and I can’t promise you it’s going to break and straighten out. If the West Indies have 60 or more 70 overs at bat, they are still able to pull it off even though they haven’t been in their best shape lately.”
