Just as they had in Antigua last week, England spent the final day pushing for victory on a benign surface. They got one wicket closer this time, with West Indies five down, but were thwarted once more. The series heads to Grenada for a decider, starting Thursday.
That they failed to force a win once more was partly down to the limitations of their attack – strengthening the case for Matt Parkinson to play in Grenada – but more down to another epic effort from West Indies’ skipper Kraigg Brathwaite.
To his first innings 160, which spanned seven hours, he batted through two sessions for an unbeaten 56 from 184 balls. He faced 673 balls in the match, more than any West Indies batter ever has.
His long, winding battle with Jack Leach continued. Leach was accurate but only occasionally got help from the slow pitch. He got through a mountain of work, bowling another 25 overs, taking him to 94.5 for the match (that is more than a day’s play). It is 60 years since an England bowler (Tony Lock) has bowled this many balls in a match.
The draw – which means England have won just one of their last 16 Tests – was not for a lack of trying. There will have been what-ifs for Joe Root: could he have declared a little sooner? Could he have bowled the excellent Saqib Mahmood a little more? But faced by Brathwaite and this pitch, they gave it another good shake. There were no dropped catches or DRS balls-up this time.
With the morning session twice interrupted by rain, England batted until lunch. That felt a bit late, but had the benefit of wasting no overs with the declaration.
It meant West Indies needed 282 in a minimum of 65 overs, so a little stingier than the offering last week of 286 in 71. The hosts were neither willing or realistically able to chase this on a slow pitch and slowest outfield. Brathwaite was always going to dig another trench, and he duly did, superbly.
England had pushed hard with the bat. After steady accumulation from Alex Lees and Zak Crawley on the fourth evening, the top three all fell caught on the boundary in quick succession. Lees and Root went slog-sweeping Veerasammy Permaul’s spin, then Crawley hooked to long-leg, where Jayden Seales took a terrific catch.
Stokes picked out the only fielder not on the boundary, leaving Dan Lawrence and Jonny Bairstow to have some fun. Their 50 partnership took 40 balls, with a pair of handsome sixes each. They also fell to fine catches on the fence, at which point Root could have a considered a declaration. Just as in Antigua, though, Ben Foakes and Chris Woakes guided them through a few extra overs.
There were similarities with last week’s chase. At tea, West Indies were 65 for three, again, and lost one more wicket in the final session. That man, again, was Jermaine Blackwood to Leach. The first innings centurion – then Nkrumah Bonner, now Brathwaite – stood defiant.
But when Jason Holder played his second dismal shot of the match, slapping Leach to cover, where Lawrence took a fantastic diving catch, the door opened a little wider for England. With Leach and Lawrence bowling in tandem, they had had five men around the bat, and soon the was six.
Holder was Leach’s third wicket of the innings, and sixth of the match. He has not been quite as threatening here as he was in Antigua, on another unhelpful surface, but he plugged away. He picked up the first wicket to fall, John Campbell, caught at bat-pad on review, while Blackwood was caught by Bairstow, helmeted on his knees at second slip.
In Antigua, England had been a bowler down, with their only quick, Mark Wood, off injured. Here, they had Saqib Mahmood, and were grateful for it. In his first over, he had tempted an edge from Shamarh Brooks, who was too loose outside off stump. It flashed hard to second slip, where Crawley juggled, twice, and Root stepped across to complete the catch. Minutes later, Mahmood got one to leave Bonner, and Root did the business once more.
England entered the final hour still needing five wickets, with light looming as an issue. Ben Stokes returned for another spell in a Test match that has provided a reminder of how influential he can be in every facet of the game.
Josh da Silva, the impressive keeper-bat, joined Brathwaite, and batted intelligently. England kept pushing until the overs were bowled, as they had last week, but could not quite force the win.
