A day even the purists will struggle to love. Of just 171 runs scored – all to West Indies – across 90.1 overs on an Antigua pitch that sucked the life out of every delivery and every foot thudded into the popping crease. England managed to find five wickets, some generously contributed by their opponents.
At the end of it all, West Indies were still undefeated on 373 for nine, 62 ahead, which even on a surface devoid of life is not to be sniffed at. There is still time for England to throw this away and they will need to bat at least four of the next six sessions to save them from themselves. The fear after a day like this, when they plugged away and occasionally had their spirits punctured intermittently by umpiring decisions and reviews that did not go their way, is that they may not have much more to give.
There is a night’s rest, at least. Enough, hopefully, for Stokes to recover from the 28 overs he has bowled so far – the most in an innings since 2015 – to get into his batting zone, and more immediately for Mark Wood to recover from an elbow complaint that ruled him out of bowling from lunch. Nkrumah Bonner, though, will have the most restful sleep after compiling a stoic 123 from 355 deliveries.
Bonner only made his debut in this format last February away to Bangladesh but has emerged as a lock in the middle order through his unflappable concentration and now has two centuries to his name. This was the fifth of his 17 innings so far that he has spent more than 200 balls at the crease. Not bad for a man who was originally picked on his short game back in 2011 when he made his international Twenty20 debut. Age seems to have taught the 33-year-old the virtue of patience.
He spent all of nine hours and 18 minutes out in the middle, and no doubt could have ticked over 10 were his stay not brought to an end by the most unlikely of sources. With three overs left in the day, Root tossed the ball to Dan Lawrence to bowl his high-action right arm optimistics. The fifth delivery spun down the leg side, picking up an edge even Ultra Edge could only just pick up, before nestling into the gloves of Ben Foakes. It was a dismissal greeted with the kind of giddy, giggling relief of tortured minds on a day that seemed like it would never end.
But they will rue a drop by Zak Crawley at slip when Bonner had 73 which would have reduced West Indies to 282 for eight. They have done little wrong in this first innings, which makes that mistake all the more memorable.
A stop-start day two had kept West Indies to 202, 109 off England’s first innings 311, who themselves could only manage four wickets. With bright blue skies above, Thursday’s start on time promised much for Jason Holder and Nkrumah Bonner as they restarted their efforts on 43 and 34 not out, respectively.
Bonner was the higher of the two in the batting order, but Holder was higher on the priority as far as England were concerned, what with averaging 60 against them in the Caribbean, a figure bumped by an unbeaten 202 not out on the previous tour in 2019. But the number two allrounder in the world only managed two more runs before number five – Stokes – tempted him into a nick through to Ben Foakes.
Stokes was no certainty to bowl in this Test as England continually assess his workloads across all disciplines and all codes. But without him, an older ball would not have carried the threat it did in the first morning. He was almost able to prise out Bonner on 40 with a lifting bouncer drawing a misjudged hook that fell short of substitute fielder Ollie Pope diving in from catching midwicket. The addition of just 25 runs in the 13.1 overs before the second new ball was down to Bonner and Joshua Da Silva focussing on survival.
England, however, were unable to garner anything when it arrived. The pitch, still docile, did little to assist the firmer seam, and West Indies made it through to lunch just 40 behind on 271 for five. Bonner passed fifty for the fifth time in his Test career (from 1,147 deliveries) and Da Silva, on 16, was quick to review an LBW decision given to Overton that was predicted to be passing leg stump.
That ineffectiveness was compounded by Wood leaving the field after one over of his second spell. His right elbow, strapped up from the start of play, was the problem, an issue understood to have carried over from the Ashes and had an injection to reduce pain and swelling on the area ahead of this tour. He did not take the field after lunch and was ruled out of bowling for the remainder of this innings. With no guarantee he will be fit enough for England’s second go in the field, Root’s focus was as much on bowling out West Indies as managing a weaker hand.
England battled on valiantly a bowler down. Da Silva was finally trapped LBW for a deserved wicket to Jack Leach, who had got into a groove against a right-hand batting line-up, with 20 maidens from his 43 overs so far in this innings. Overton then tempted Alzarri Joseph into a hook which was caught by Pope running in from fine leg. And they should have had a third – and Leach a second – when Bonner inside-edged to first slip via his front pad. Crawley, flummoxed by the change of direction, was unable to hold on.
That led to a period of near stasis up to tea, as Bonner and Kemar Roach slowed to a crawl, inching West Indies over 300. Then came a burst of back-to-back fours for Roach as Root misguided off-spinners either side of the stumps. The first – a snapshot through cover – took West Indies into the lead. The second was a sweep, mimicked by Bonner at the start of Root’s next over, taking him into tea just two away from three figures with his side 11 ahead.
Having waited 20 minutes, he swept the second ball of the restart to move to that second Test century from 257 deliveries. With the milestone safely in the bag, he went back to focus on time. Who knows how much longer he and Roach could have gone on for had the latter not ended short of his ground at the wicketkeeper’s end on 89 balls faced. The runs, at this time, seemed a distraction, yet Bonner’s call for a single had tragic consequences for his partner thanks to a bullet throw from Pope from a deep gully position. It was a waste of what had been a brave innings from Roach, who succumbed to more blows to his body than he managed off his bat.
Veerasammy Permaul picked up where the number nine left off, overturning an LBW against him on nought having hit the ball onto his pads, then surviving two reviews on tight Umpire’s Calls against Leach. Root got funky with his field, at one point stationing Jonny Bairstow so close to Bonner at bat pad that he could shake his hand for a job well done.
He’d survive an LBW off Stokes on 121 thanks to another edge confirmed via DRS, only to fall to Lawrence with barely 10 minutes left in the day. Nevertheless, West Indies’ first go moves into a third day. The prospect of a result other than a draw rests squarely on England’s ineptitude in their second innings which, as we’ve seen this winter, is not something that can be ruled out.
