A marathon 160 from West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite consumed considerable time, but his side was bowled out for 411 and conceded a first-innings lead of 96 to England in the second Test on Saturday here.
Brathwaite batted 11 hours and 40 minutes and faced 489 balls – 400 scoreless – before left-arm spinner Jack Leach bowled him with a sharply turning delivery about 40 minutes before tea on the penultimate day of the Test at Kensington Oval.
This was Brathwaite’s second highest Test score and it enabled the Windies to keep the English in the field for 187.5 overs, which they hope will help them force a second straight draw in the three-Test series.
When bad light stopped play two overs early, England were 40 without loss in their second innings for an overall lead of 136 with Zak Crawley not out on 21 and left-handed opening partner Alex Lees not out on 18.
After a 15-minute delay to the start because of rain and either side of a 10-minute stoppage for the same reason, West Indies reached 351 for five at lunch.
Starting the day on 288 for four, the Windies lost only night-watchman Alzarri Joseph caught at square cover off Ben Stokes for 19 before the interval, when he cut a short, wide ball from the pacer after putting on 52 for the fifth wicket with Brathwaite.
Jason Holder with fond memories of his double hundred against the same opponents in the corresponding Test three years ago swirling in his head batted through almost an hour before the interval with Brathwaite.
After lunch, Holder and Brathwaite were two of three wickets that the Windies lost before they reached 396 for eight at tea.
Holder became the first Test wicket for debutant pacer Saqib Mahmood when he was caught at long-on for 12 from a lofted drive off the second ball after the interval before Brathwaite fell to Leach and Kemar Roach was lbw to Chris Woakes for one.
After tea, pacer Saqib Mahmood got Veerasammy Permaul lbw for five before Leach brought the innings to a close when he also poached Joshua da Silva lbw for 33 to end with 3-118 from a whopping 69.5 overs – the most overs bowled by an Englishman since Phil Tufnell’s 71 at Wellington in 1992.
The Windies have not lost a Test to the English in nearly two decades at Kensington Oval, and they have lost only twice – in 1994 and 2004 – in the history of Tests between the two sides at this ground.
The first of three Tests in this series ended in a draw this past Saturday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua, and the final Test will be played from March 24 at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada.
Summarised scores:
ENGLAND 507 for nine declared (Joe Root 153, Ben Stokes 120, Dan Lawrence 91, Chris Woakes 41, Ben Foakes 33, Alex Lees 30, Jonny Bairstow 20; Veerasammy Permaul 3-126, Kemar Roach 2-68) and 40 for two (Zak Crawley 21 not out, Alex Lees 18 not out).
WEST INDIES 411 (Kraigg Brathwaite 160, Jermaine Blackwood 102, Shamarh Brooks 39, Joshua da Silva 33, Alzarri Joseph 19, Jason Holder 12; Jack Leach 3-118, Saqib Mahmood 2-58, Ben Stokes 2-65).
(AR)
