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West Indies (375 & 147/4) draw 1st Test with England (311 & 349/6 dec)

ENG 311
WI 284/7 (105.2) CRR: 2.7
Day 3: 2nd Session - West Indies trail by 27 runs
 
I know there's little pace in the wicket but Bonner needs to take charge, farm the strike and at least help WI to parity.

Feel WI just don't pace an innings well across formats. They started this innings almost in one-day mode, lost wickets and then gone into a shell.
 
Wood, with a sore elbow, is now described as "unlikely to bowl again in this innings". The Barbados Test starts on Wednesday.
 
Top effort this from West Indies.

Now ahead of England.

70 or 80 run lead? And anything is possible
 
Its Tea , WI saved by 40 runs unbeaten partnership so far . WI would want Bonner to keep going here
 
If England can score 300-350 in 2nd innings, they can win it.

All 3 results are possible.

It has been a great game.
 
Been a very patient knock from Bonner.

If he was Pakistani he'd be cursed from Hyderabad to Hunza for batting too slowly, but given how flimsy this WI batting lineup has been they need somebody who can just bat time.
 
woakes has been poor with ball here, hes useless outside of conditions in england.
 
WI have batted for over 150 overs now, even tailenders are hard to dismiss. Brilliant batting or pitch gone full flat ? Going by the trend , England should also get a good score in the third innings and match should end in a draw.
 
When did Stokes get a hair transplant? Never seen him wihout a bald patch before.
 
Once again Joe Root very poor as skipper.

Lacking ideas and innovation.
 
One of the more attritional pitches in recent memory. Wickets are gettable for bowlers (like Ben Stokes) who are prepared to graft, graft, and graft some more.

England will be under some considerable pressure when they come out to bat.
 
An uninspiring England toiled as Nkrumah Bonner's determined century put West Indies on top after day three of the first Test in Antigua.

On a slow day, Bonner ground out 123 from 355 balls as his side reached 373-9 at the close with a lead of 62.

England's new-look attack, albeit on a docile pitch and hampered by losing fast bowler Mark Wood to injury, again found wicket-taking hard.

Ben Stokes had Jason Holder caught behind for 45 early on and Jack Leach trapped Joshua da Silva lbw for 32.

But the tourists were held up for almost 30 overs by a stand between Bonner and number nine Kemar Roach, who made 15 from 89 balls.

Roach was run out in the final session, only for number 10 Veerasammy Permaul to frustrate England further with a 87-ball 26.

Bonner, who could have been caught on 73, batted patiently throughout. He finally fell in the third to last over of the day when the third umpire judged he had tickled a catch down the leg side off part-time leg-spinner Dan Lawrence.

That wicket gave England some cause for celebration but the hosts still sit in a strong position with two days to go.
 
Paul Collingwood said England's bowling efforts on a docile pitch during day three of the first Test against West Indies were "one of the best I have seen" as he hailed "warrior" Ben Stokes.

Nkrumah Bonner's gritty 123 from 355 balls helped West Indies into a 62-run lead over England by stumps in Antigua, as the hosts closed on 373-9 in reply to their opponents' 311 all out.

But interim coach Collingwood could not fault his bowling attack, who were without paceman Mark Wood for much of the day due to an elbow problem.

With Wood off the field - Collingwood is hopeful that he will bowl in the second innings - Stokes took his tally of overs delivered to 28, far more than was expected with the all-rounder having suffered a side strain at the backend of England's dreadful Ashes campaign.

Collingwood said: "I thought it was one of the best efforts I have seen in an England shirt in Test cricket. To go for 170 runs and take five wickets on a pitch that placid is a pretty good effort.

"Sometimes you can look at the scoreboard and see you haven't bowled the other team out but I thought the fitness and attitude was exceptional right to the last ball.

"Certainly the game isn't out of our reach but I would say West Indies are slightly ahead. There are still two days to go and anything can happen if the pitch starts breaking up,

Interim head coach Paul Collingwood believes that England have showed great attitude despite playing on a bad pitch against the West Indies.

"It's fair to say that Ben declared himself fit to bowl in this first innings," Collingwood said. "None of us were expecting that many overs out of him.

"As much as you tell him not to bowl and to be careful, he's proven that the work that he's done over the last few weeks to get his body right has been exceptional.

"His attitude has been absolutely superb and he's shown what kind of warrior he is. He wants to put his body on the line all the time. He loves playing for England and wants to win games."

On Wood's right elbow issue, Collingwood added: "You need 90mph-plus guys who can reverse swing the ball. They are gold dust so it will be disappointing if he is not involved in the second innings

"He is pretty sore at the moment and it is going to be one of those ones where we assess him overnight and see if he is going to be available."

Collingwood also reserved praise for left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who has claimed 1-79 from 43 overs in Antigua, sending down 20 maidens and going at less than two runs an over.

The Somerset bowler endured a tough Ashes series as he was targeted by Australia but Collingwood says he is enjoying added responsibility.

On Leach, the interim coach added: "He went superbly. If Jack bowls like that on wickets that are more responsive then he's going to take wickets.

"He was accurate, he had dip on the ball, his energy, everything he gave was really good.

"The pitch was turning pretty much nil. On pitches that aren't doing anything you want him to do a holding role and he played that role really well.

"He's been great around the dressing room. We've tried to give people more responsibility and become leaders - he's had a voice and he's enjoyed that.

"He's got a smile on his face, he's enjoying his cricket and he's taken his performances out into the middle, so it's a really good start."


'England had perspiration but lacked inspiration'
Sky Sports' Michael Atherton…

"Ultimately it was a disappointing day for England. They showed a lot of perspiration, bowled better than day two, but just lack a little bit of inspiration due to the nature of the attack that they have got. They were accurate but lacked cutting edge on a difficult pitch.

"Once they got Jason Holder early they would have fancied a first-innings lead of their own but in the end they come up against the rock, Bonner, who has put his team in a comfortable position. He has a watertight defence and played the situation.

"It was a slow old day, an attritional day, on a graveyard pitch. I would like to see a pitch with a bit more pace and bounce and maybe there will be something in it for the spinners on day four and five. It's a brave man that pipes up with England's second innings to come!"


'England were faultless, they tried everything,
Mark Butcher, speaking to BT Sport...

"England used the breeze and conditions well and Joe Root got most of the tactics right throughout the day.

England were faultless. They tried everything they possibly could. It was just unbelievably difficult to get anyone out.

"It was a long old slog for everybody - not least Bonner. It was nine hours of self-denial on a surface that didn't allow you to be expansive.

"Bonner had to call on all reserves of concentration to chisel out a lead for his side, which could be gold dust. Especially, as England have the propensity for a collapse."

SKY
 
Drizzling...

ENG 311
WI 375 (157.3) CRR: 2.38
Day 4: Innings Break - West Indies lead by 64 runs
 
England will have to be very cautious here. Someone will have to bat as good as Bonner for England to have any hance to save this Test.
 
Any lead above 150 and England become favs.
 
How on earth did that get given out? Going down leg by miles lol

Rightly overturned.
 
23-0

Better than the usual "10-2" England start at least!
 
Like Archer, Wood is also extremely injury prone. He can't be relied on going into a major test series as he is unlikely to play all tests being fully fit in a given series.
 
Last edited:
WI 375
ENG 311 & 72/1 (24) CRR: 3
Day 4: Lunch Break - England lead by 8 runs
 
England doing ok here. Better than I expected.

The Crawley-Root partnership will be very important in the context of the rest of this game because they both look quite settled (on this very odd and sort of attritional pitch).
 
Scores are nearly equal and England have 9 wickets to go with 5 sessions left. Will we get a result in this match ? Looks very unlikely to me.
 
This one is looking like a Draw unless the pitch starts to play some dirty tricks and/or one of the teams has a batting collapse.

To be honest, a draw and scoring 300+ twice (if they can do so) would still be something for an initial incremental improvement for England’s Test team on their “Red Ball Reset” tour.
 
It would be interesting if England declare at some point and take a chance to win this game
 
WI have done well here, they were 127-4 trailing by almost 200 runs at one stage and went on to take a sufficient lead by the end of the innings. Competed well here.
 
Justcrazy said:
It would be interesting if England declare at some point and take a chance to win this game
Click to expand...

England will not have enough runs on the board to declare today so they may bat till lunch tomorrow, thus WI will only have to survive two sessions.

I don't see how England can declare before that, they may get dismissed early but don't see a declaration before lunch tomorrow.
 
62 partnership and counting.

Quite lovely to watch two free flowing right-handers rotate the strike and bat within themselves.
 
Kianig89 said:
England have declined so drastically WI going toe to toe with Eng
Click to expand...

WI usually give England a good game, and England have hardly won a series away in WI since the 1960s (just on a couple of occasions). This is the normal order of service.
 
England should have come hard here , and look to declare somewhere tomorrow , and take a crack at WI
 
Justcrazy said:
England should have come hard here , and look to declare somewhere tomorrow , and take a crack at WI
Click to expand...

England were trailing by around 65 runs so they employed the safety first approach.

They are 100/1 right now but the lead is only 36.
 
Justcrazy said:
England should have come hard here , and look to declare somewhere tomorrow , and take a crack at WI
Click to expand...

No need in the first Test of three. The pitch is completely dead as well. Be tactical. If it stays this flat, might as well use the last 4 sessions for batting practice and get the West Indies bowlers to put some serious miles into their legs.
 
No Anderson and the game was lost by the opening bowling bums, WI had a great partnership at the top
 
James said:
No need in the first Test of three. The pitch is completely dead as well. Be tactical. If it stays this flat, might as well use the last 4 sessions for batting practice and get the West Indies bowlers to put some serious miles into their legs.
Click to expand...

Its worth taking a chance against WI fragile batting , you never know you can win. In Test you have to play for win
 
The curators at Rawalpindi and Antigua should be slapped.
 
England have the players to up the ante and get the lead to 300 by first hour tomorrow. After that , you never know with the West Indies batters...

Wood's niggle might come back to haunt them though.
 
Markhor said:
The curators at Rawalpindi and Antigua should be slapped.
Click to expand...

WI for some reason prepare such awful tracks from time to time. There was the series between WI and SL same period during last year which ended 0-0. Same kind of pitches, same kind of scores. It's just impossible to dismiss a side cheaply, y'day even tailenders like Roach and Permaul were having difficult to dislodge so can imagine.
 
England seemed to have upped the ante in the last couple of overs lol but it doesn't matter whatever they will score WI is likely to survive 90 overs on this pitch. Some pitches in WI get better to bat as days progress.
 
WI 375
ENG 311 & 177/1 (55.2) CRR: 3.2
Day 4: 3rd Session - England lead by 113 runs
 
Small possibility of an England win here.

The draw is the strong favourite however.
 
More rain. That’s disappointing.

Chance of the Draw just increased another 5%.
 
The players come back out for 2 legal deliveries, then it starts raining again and they go back off. Farce
 
Zak Crawley hit his second Test hundred as England dominated West Indies on day four of the first Test to set up an outside chance of victory.

Crawley capitalised on a lifeless Antigua pitch to make an unbeaten 117, while captain Joe Root reached 84 not out at the close.

Having started the day behind the game and in the field, England were 217-1, leading by 153 runs, when rain brought an early finish.

Earlier they took just three deliveries to claim the final West Indies wicket as the hosts were dismissed for 375 with a first-innings lead of 64.

But, despite the early loss of debutant Alex Lees for six, Crawley and Root wiped out the deficit and batted England into the ascendancy with a mammoth unbeaten stand of 193.

The tourists, who have struggled for large parts of the Test, now look the more likely side to win.

However, the placid nature of pitch means any quest to bowl out West Indies on the final day will be a struggle.
 
England’s best day of Test cricket away from home in a very long time.
 
Has the makings of a great test, this.
 
Varun said:
Has the makings of a great test, this.
Click to expand...

It’s what you want to see going into the extended final day of a competitive Test match. All three (four) results possible — probably West Indies winning or a tie the most unlikely, though still possible — the draw is the favourite, and then if the rain stays away there will be half-decent chance for England to steal a famous win.
 
We have half an hour early start today. England lead by 152 runs with 9 wickets in hand. I cannot think of any total at which England could declare and still have enough time to bowl out WI.

They would be batting at least one session today, if not more.
 
England going after everything, running risky singles, trying to hit every ball.

West Indies bowling a lot of wide and leg side deliveries to try and slow down the scoring rate.

Interesting to watch from a tactical point of view.
 
England scoring at 5.4 runs per over this morning.
 
Really poor from West Indies thus far. Negative tactics and poor execution. Rightly getting taken at 6 an over.
 
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