Jonny Bairstow was the star of the show for England as he scored an excellent hundred in the first Test against the West Indies, rescuing his side after their top-order suffered an all-too familiar collapse.
It was his second Test hundred in as many games, having struck England's sole century in the Ashes in Sydney back in January, and it was a mature, composed innings from the 32-year-old, who came in with England in crisis at 48-4.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, England's new-look opening partnership of debutant Alex Lees and Zak Crawley managed just 12 runs between them as both players fell for single-figure scores.
Lees was the first man out, getting pinned lbw for four by Kemar Roach and failing to overturn the decision on review.
Crawley then fell for eight in the next over, playing a loose shot against Jayden Seales and edging behind to wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva, who took a stunning catch.
With both openers gone, captain Joe Root strolled to the crease at number three, having opted to move himself up the order after the Ashes.
Having been gifted a life thanks to a dropped catch from Jermaine Blackwood, Root was unable to capitalise as he fell to Roach just one ball later.
He shouldered arms at a ball which nipped back and clipped the top of off-stump, sending him packing for 13 and leaving England 27-3.
Dan Lawrence, preferred at number four over Ollie Pope after not featuring at all in Australia, made his way to 20 before getting caught at slip off Jason Holder.
Ben Stokes and Bairstow then dug in to see England through to lunch without losing any more wickets, with the score 57-4.
After the break, Stokes and Bairstow continued to battle hard and rebuild England's innings, bringing up their 50 partnership off 119 deliveries.
Their stand was eventually broken by Seales, who dismissed Stokes for 36 with an excellent delivery that the all-rounder dragged on.
Wicketkeeper Ben Foakes then helped put on an excellent 99-run partnership with Bairstow that pushed England up to 214 when he was dismissed by Holder.
Having looked solid on his return to the team, Foakes was pinned on the crease by Holder for 42.
Now batting alongside Chris Woakes, Bairstow continued his excellent knock and brought up his eighth Test century by sweeping Kraigg Brathwaite for four.
It was a magnificent innings from the Englishman and showed a multitude of skill, with Bairstow first having to dig in and prevent a full-scale collapse, before going through the gears and sharing two key partnerships.
At the close of play, England were 268-6 and in a much better position than many feared they would be after their horror start.
Here are five talking points from the day's play.
A familiar story at the top of the order
One of the hallmarks of England's staggeringly poor 2021 in Test cricket was the repeated failure of their opening partnerships, with 12 of their 15 Tests featuring at least one duck by one of the openers.
They finished the year with a collective record of 14 ducks and England looked to make changes for this Test series, with both Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed getting dropped after their poor showings in the Ashes.
In their place, debutant Lees was tasked with opening alongside Crawley and, although the pair avoided the ignominy of get out for ducks, they both fell cheaply to leave England 17-2 after just 3.5 overs.
It was a familiar story for England, with their much-vaunted red-ball reset getting off to a woeful start.
Roach stars with the new ball
As the leader of the attack, Roach has developed into a potent Test match bowler in recent years after getting dropped back in 2016.
At the time of his axing, Roach averaged 30 in Test cricket but he is averaging just 23 since his 2017 recall and his quality was on show once against England.
He picked up two quick wickets with the new ball, setting up Lees with a series of away swingers before getting him lbw with an inswinger.
Roach then bowled Root just one delivery after having him dropped in the slips, getting the ball to swing back and hit his stumps after the England captain had shouldered arms.
It was a high-class spell of bowling from the 33-year-old, who ended the day with figures of 2-71 after going for a few runs in the last two sessions.
Bairstow leads fightback
With England getting reduced to 48-4 when Lawrence fell to Holder in the 16th over, they were teetering on the verge of yet another woeful collapse.
However, Stokes and Bairstow halted the battled hard to see out the first session without any further wickets falling and then pushed on after lunch.
When Stokes was bowled for 36, the pair had added 67 runs and pushed England above the hundred mark, with their stand proving to be a hugely important one as it allowed the visitors to rebuild.
With Stokes gone, Bairstow continued to lead the fightback and shared a 99-run partnership with Foakes.
He ultimately went on to make 109 not out, continuing where he left off after scoring England's sole century in the Ashes.
For a player who has been in and out of the Test side in recent years, it certainly seems as though Bairstow is back for good this time.
Seales shows his promise
A hugely talented young seamer, the 20-year-old was tasked with opening the bowling alongside Roach and he impressed for the West Indies.
He made an early breakthrough, getting Crawley caught behind for eight, and then broke Bairstow and Stokes' threatening partnership with an excellent full ball that swung late and was dragged on by the all-rounder.
Going into this Test match, Seales had taken a total of 16 wickets at an average of 21.31 in his four previous matches against South Africa and Pakistan.
And he continued his impressive start to international cricket against England, picking up 2-64 from his 19 overs on day one.
Foakes impresses with the bat
Recalled to the side after Jos Buttler was dropped, Foakes was talked up ahead of the series with ECB chief Sir Andrew Strauss labelling him "the best keeper in the world".
While the 29-year-old's talents behind the stumps have never been in doubt, the reason he is only playing his ninth Test despite making his debut in 2018 is the fact that Bairstow and Buttler have been viewed as better batters.
However, with a first-class average of almost 40 and a Test century in Sri Lanka to his name, Foakes is far from a liability with the bat even if he does not possess the same eye-catching explosiveness as either Bairstow or Buttler.
And Foakes looked both fluent and confident in his first Test innings in just over a year, scoring 42 and sharing a key partnership with Bairstow that pushed England towards 268-6 at the close of play.
Can you help underprivileged children experience the joy of cricket? Charity Bat for a Chance donates cricket kit to those most in need and is also fundraising. Find out more here
