BIRMINGHAM, England, CMC – A half-century, sixth wicket stand between Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva stabilized West Indies and frustrated hosts England between lunch and tea in Friday’s third Test of the Richards-Botham Trophy Series.
Holder was not out on 42, and Da Silva was not out on 35, and the Caribbean side reached 194 for five in their first innings at the break on the first day of the match at Edgbaston after they won the toss and decided to bat.
So far, The pair shared 79 after the visitors lost their captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Kavem Hodge, their batting hero from the previous Test, in the first half hour after lunch and were wobbling on 115 for five.
Brathwaite was caught behind down the leg-side off tearaway fast bowler Mark Wood for the top score so far of 61 when he fenced at a short ball in the third over after the interval, and Chris Woakes bowled Hodge for 13 two balls later when he offered no stroke to a delivery moving back.
But Holder and Da Silva absorbed the pressure of the situation, conditions eased considerably with the England pacers unable to get much movement through the air or off the pitch, and the pair mounted acts of defiance to see West Indies through to the break without any further loss.
Wood has been the pick of the England bowlers, taking two for 36 from 12 overs, and fellow pacer Gus Atkinson has supported with two for 49 from 13 overs.
Before lunch, Brathwaite defied several blows to the body from the England pacers to reach his first half-century in nine Test innings, spanning more than a year, when he nudged his 70th ball from his opposite number Ben Stokes through backward square leg for a single.
Brathwaite and fellow opener Mikyle Louis got through a testing first hour and shared 76 for the first wicket. Still, Atkinson removed Louis and left-hander Alick Athanaze; Wood claimed Kirk McKenzie, and West Indies wobbled to 97 for three at the interval.
Louis was caught behind for 26, left-hander McKenzie hit three boundaries in 12 in a brief stay at the crease before he was beaten and bowled for pace, and Athanaze, one of the batting heroes from the second Test at Trent Bridge, was bowled for two, dragging on an ill-advised pull.
West Indies were forced to make one change to their line-up from the previous Test, while England were unchanged.
The Caribbean side was forced to rule out off-spinner Kevin Sinclair after he sustained a fractured forearm when he was struck by a bouncer from Wood that dismissed him in the second Test.
Left-arm spinner and fellow Guyanese Gudakesh Motie, who came down with the flu and missed the second Test, returns to the line-up after recovering from the illness.
West Indies trail 2-0 in the three-match series after they lost the first Test that ended two Fridays ago – inside three days – by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s, and the second Test that finished last Sunday – inside four days – by 241 runs at Trent Bridge.
West Indies have won four and lost three of their ten previous Tests at Edgbaston, with two defeats coming in their last three visits in 2004 and 2017, the first pink-ball Test in England.
West Indies pacer Jayden Seales, who is playing his 13th Test, requires only three wickets to reach 50 in his career, and England master batsman Joe Root, on 11 940 Test runs, requires only 14 to overtake former West Indies captain Brian Lara at No. 7 on the all-time list of scorers in the format.
With one more hundred, Root will also tie Alastair Cook, on 33, for the most by an England batsman.
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