The opening Test in Antigua ended in a draw, with West Indies just four wickets down in their second innings. But, and this has not always been the case in recent times - England’s ambition and enterprise could not be faulted on a very dull pitch.
Having been 48 for four on the first morning, and having conceded a 64-run first innings lead, England recovered very well to have West Indies under some pressure in the final session of the match. While that pressure did abate, the handshakes did not come until an England victory was mathematically impossible.
Only afternoon rain had upset England’s day on Friday, and they continued their good work on Saturday morning. Their swift second innings of 349 for six declared, including scoring 132 in 25 overs on the fifth morning, allowed them to set West Indies a target that felt generous on a flat pitch: 286 from a minimum of 71 overs. That they were without Mark Wood, their most dynamic bowler, and have doubts over Ben Stokes’ fitness gave it an even more attacking feel.
For 25 overs, little happened. A draw seemed certain. Then, in 10 overs either side of tea, they took four wickets for eight runs, with three of them falling to Jack Leach. He removed Jermaine Blackwood in his first over after tea, lbw playing a dreadful shot, and victory felt eminently possible.
But, just as they had on day two, Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder came together to defy England after four quick wickets. They batted for 34 overs to save the game. They were under some pressure; England kept men round the bat to the spinners Leach and Dan Lawrence, and catchers in place as the seamers rotated.
They were left to rue their reviews, though. They lost one early, a speculative lbw off Root that John Campbell had hit. They tossed away another, in the middle of the collapse, that was floating down leg for Leach to Shamarh Brooks.
So when Holder was struck on the pad by the same bowler, they were cowed. Three reds. Two Leach overs later, there was a huge appeal for caught behind, and Root was convinced to review. The ball was close to the bat, and appeared to deviate, but the technology would not prove he hit it. All three reviews were gone, and Holder was still there.
Still, Leach – suddenly the leader of the attack – bowled very nicely. He opened the bowling from the Sir Andy Roberts End, and proved difficult to attack while getting little from the surface. He created a chance early: Zak Crawley dropped Campbell running backwards at slip.
When Ben Stokes pinned Kraigg Brathwaite lbw, Leach went bang-bang. Campbell drilled to mid-on, where the tall, strong catcher Craig Overton had recently replaced the uncapped sub Matt Fisher. Soon after Leach had Brooks taken at slip by Crawley, then Blackwood had his brain fade. Thankfully, they had Bonner and Holder, who were magnificent again, on hand.
Stokes was England’s other titan, adding 13 overs to the 28 he bowled in the first innings. In the absence of Wood, he was by some way England’s most threatening seamer. Quite what England’s attack looks like for Wednesday’s Second Test in Barbados remains to be seen.
England’s batting was encouraging in this match. On the final morning, building on the good work of Crawley and Root on day four, had three distinct phases.
First was the fun charge to the declaration when, despite the early loss of Crawley for 121 to a fine Jason Holder yorker, Root and Dan Lawrence fizzed along. Lawrence played some delightful shots, defying his reputation as legside Larry to hoy drives through and over the offside with elan.
Root brought up an inevitable hundred, his 24th in Test cricket (taking him clear of Kevin Pietersen to second place for England) and 13th as captain (the most by an Englishman). He celebrated by kissing a necklace his son Alfie had made for him before he left for the Caribbean last month. This was not Root’s most challenging hundred, or his most demonstrative. But England needed the runs, and it provided a suggestion that he can flourish at No3.
Then came the collapse (there had to be one). Lawrence went first, slicing Alzarri Joseph to point. Then Root, bowled trying to get cute with Joseph. Bens Stokes and Foakes were gone soon too, trying to push the scoreboard along. Four wickets had fallen for 19 runs in five overs.
England still felt shy in both time and runs shy of an appropriate declaration, so it was important that Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes stuck on a swift 35 to allow Root to declare mid-over at 11:38. The batting pair appeared as surprised as most onlookers.
England had given themselves a good shot at victory – they were to be denied by their own limitations and a very docile pitch.
