West Indies draw first blood against England after superb knock from Jermaine Blackwood
Pocket rocket Jermaine Blackwood fell just short of a century, but his 95-run knock was enough to get the West Indies home against England in the first Test. And the Poms’ poor fielding didn’t help their cause.
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England was left to rue a lack of first-innings runs and a poor fielding display on the final day as Jermaine Blackwood’s superb 95 led West Indies to a four-wicket win in a thrilling finale to the opening Test of the summer.
Blackwood, 28, was dropped three times and survived a close run-out chance yesterday (Sunday) but played a determined innings, with West Indies recovering from 3/27 to chase down 200.
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Ben Stokes, who was standing in as captain for the absent Joe Root, had opted to bat first after winning the toss on day one but his side could score only 204.
“I stand by that decision (to bat first),” Stokes said.
“We’ve got to be good enough to put first-innings runs on the board. We didn’t do that despite getting ourselves into good positions.
“We didn’t grasp the game but it’s been a learning curve for some of our young batsmen.”
England was on top in the morning session yesterday (Sunday) as Jofra Archer bowled with pace, venom and aggression to take the wickets of Kraigg Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks, having caused the opener, John Campbell, to retire hurt with a suspected broken toe after being hit by a searing yorker.
Shai Hope, who had scored a hundred in each innings at Headingley the last time West Indies toured the UK, was then bowled by Mark Wood before Blackwood and Roston Chase dragged the visitors back into the match with a fourth-wicket partnership of 73.
Jason Holder, the West Indies captain whose six-wicket haul in the first innings was pivotal to the victory, praised the efforts of his team.
“We knew what was at stake, we knew if we got wickets yesterday (Sunday) we put ourselves in a very good position to win the game,” Holder said.
“Every time I asked the bowlers to give me something, they ran in and gave everything on a very flat pitch.”
Shannon Gabriel, who took nine wickets in all, was awarded player of the match for his game-changing spell late on the fourth day but Holder was keen to praise the efforts of Blackwood.
“It was an outstanding innings,” he said.
“I was just as disappointed as he was when he got out (with 11 runs needed for victory) but I guess that is just the way he plays.
“He has been sat on the sidelines waiting for a chance. One thing that Jermaine is, is fearless. Today was his big moment.”
Stokes rotated his bowlers well yesterday (Sunday) but England was guilty of fielding errors and of bowling costly no-balls.
Archer’s pace and extra bounce ended Chase’s resistance when he could only fend off a rising delivery into Jos Buttler’s gloves, and Stokes dismissed the wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich at the second time of asking, having had him caught at slip off a no-ball on the previous delivery.
But with six wickets down the injured Campbell hobbled back to the crease and hit the winning run.
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On the first day, Stokes decided to leave out Stuart Broad and bat first despite the cloudy skies but he staunchly defended both of those decisions, saying his team had lost because they had not capitalised on good positions.
England fielded an exciting pace attack of Wood and Archer, meaning there was no place for Broad, who admitted during the Test he was angry and frustrated by the decision.
Stokes said he had no regrets.
“If I said I regretted that, I don’t think that would send a very good message to the bowlers we did pick,” Stokes said.
“We made a decision around thinking pace was going to stand us in a better place in this long game. Obviously Stuart is a fantastic bowler but he understood the reasons why.
“Looking at the interview he did with Sky I thought it was brilliant.
“To see the desire and passion that he showed and the answers that he gave. If he wasn’t like that I would be concerned.
“To see somebody who has played over 100 Test matches and has got so many wickets still have that fire burning deep inside is fantastic.”
Stokes now hands the captaincy back to Root, who returns for the second Test which starts on Thursday in Manchester, but says he has “thoroughly enjoyed” the experience of being captain – although he admitted he did not sleep well on Thursday night.
“There was a lot to think about,” Stokes said.
“I can see why Joe loses a lot of sleep as he has to do this every game but I’ve really enjoyed the responsibility.”
Originally published as West Indies draw first blood against England after superb knock from Jermaine Blackwood