Joe Root picked up where he left off in Antigua to bring up his quarter century of Test hundreds at the spiritual home of West Indies cricket.
The England skipper has in fact managed to roll over his remarkable 2021 into a pretty decent start to 2022 with a second successive hundred of the year to reinforce his greatness. But far from raising his bat in response to the raucous home support there once was here, no doubt securing their respect along the way, he did so in front of a crowd that sang his name as loudly as if it were a sunny Saturday afternoon at Headingley.
Those who have made it out here witnessed a fine return on their travelling investment, and not just because they saw the captain hit three figures again, but because while Root shone, Dan Lawrence sparkled. The Essex batsman strolled to the crease at number four and proceeded to put on a heck of a show, but with a century there to be had on day two he coughed up the chance by being caught at cover in the final over of the day for 91.
