Right, that’s it from me. Stick around on site for Mike Selvey’s report from Antigua and join us tomorrow for more OBO action. But for now, cheerio!
STUMPS
West Indies 155-4. A good fightback from the West Indies after finding themselves seriously under the cosh at 99-4. Chanderpaul and Blackwood dug in well.
66th over: West Indies 155-4 (Blackwood 30, Chanderpaul 29) Tredwell to Chanderpaul: dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dance down the pitch and a huge swipe across the line*.
*Not really. It was another dot. Obviously.
65th over: West Indies 155-4 (Blackwood 30, Chanderpaul 29) Jordan charges in to bowl what is likely to be the penultimate over of the day. After two balls Blackwood and Chanderpaul meet mid-pitch for a quick chat to try to ensure that there’s no time for another, but there’ll still be time to squeeze one in. From the next Blackwood, because he’s a bit of a maverick, thrashes Jordan furiously through the covers for four. I’m picturing Chanderpaul at the other end wearing an expression of bemusement and uncertainty.
64th over: West Indies 151-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 29) Tredwell twirls in once more. Nice stuff, but Chanderpaul in this mood must be about as fun to bowl at as the wall of a concrete office block.
63rd over: West Indies 151-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 29) Jordan rumbles in once more. We get the first yelp of appeal that we’ve had for a while as Blackwood is thwocked high up on the pad. Going well over, but it’s good to keep the vocal chords in good working order. We then get a slightly bizarre shot of Alastair Cook inspecting his chest hair …
62nd over: West Indies 150-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 28) Tredwell in for a little twirl before the close. Blackwood can’t be tempted.
61st over: West Indies 150-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 28) Chanderpaul helps on a Broad bouncer down to fine leg for four, runs that bring up the West Indies 150. It’s been hard work but they’re still in the game.
Another addition to the Chanderpaul soundtrack:
60th over: West Indies 146-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 24) Blackwood goes after a wide, full tempter from Stokes, but can’t quite catch it cleanly and picks out the man at point. Other than that it’s pretty much block, block, block from the youngster, who has curbed his attacking instinct fairly well.
59th over: West Indies 146-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 24) Chanderpaul is tempted into an attacking shot off Broad, but he plays it well, guiding the ball between point and the slips for four.
58th over: West Indies 142-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 20) Chanderpaul takes a single, Blackwood blocks out. These two have set their sights on the close nine overs left to survive.
57th over: West Indies 141-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 19) Blackwood looks to get after the returning Broad and mistimes a drive just short of a slightly deep mid off. And, that excitement apart, it’s a fairly quiet over. Another maiden, the 18th of the innings.
56th over: West Indies 141-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 19) Stokes smashes Chanderpaul on the pad with a yorker, but the batsman’s leg is a foot outside off. Just a leg bye from the over. Since tea West Indies are 57-2 from 26 overs.
55th over: West Indies 140-4 (Blackwood 26, Chanderpaul 19) “Re: Shiv’s playlist,” begins my colleague Dan Lucas. “I’ll nominate The National’s Slow Show, because it’s (a) the best song of the last eight years and (b) it’s the sport desk’s favorite band, it seems.” Oof, them’s fighting words.
Jordan, beginning to look a little leggy, concedes two singles from his latest over.
54th over: West Indies 138-4 (Blackwood 25, Chanderpaul 18) Huge frustration for Stokes as he tempts Blackwood into another airy shot, Cook takes the catch at slip, but replays show it’s a no ball.
Blackwood edges, Cook takes a fine catch over his head. And Stokes, the total numpty has overstepped. He has previous on this.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
From the penultimate ball, Stokes looks to throw down the stumps as Blackwood blocks and from the last Blackwood thunks a glorious on drive away for four. A quick look at the expression on Ben Stokes’ face suggests the lockers in the England dressing room are in serious peril.
53rd over: West Indies 132-4 (Blackwood 21, Chanderpaul 17) Jordan continues, and continues to probe outside off. Blackwood, despite a couple of big heaves to the contrary, has largely batted sensibly. And just as I type the ‘y’ of ‘sensibly’ he has a big thrash at one outside off and connects only with Antiguan air.
There’s another 14 overs left so about an hour at Englandspeed.
52nd over: West Indies 132-4 (Blackwood 21, Chanderpaul 17) Blackwood picks up four off Stokes courtesy of a thick edge through the vacant third slip area, and he nearly gets a second thanks to an inside edge but Buttler makes a very fine low stop.
@John_Ashdown For Shiv, it has to be Risk Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up - his and Curtley's favourite song so I'm told
— il jacobite (@il_cagnaccio) April 14, 2015
@John_Ashdown Chanderpaul playlist: Stuck in the Middle. Call off the contest; how do I claim my prize?
— paul (@pfon73) April 14, 2015
51st over: West Indies 127-4 (Blackwood 16, Chanderpaul 17) “It will be interesting to see how many of the England squad in the West Indies have lengthy careers from here,” notes Tom Van Der Gucht. “I remember in 2009 a Danish born player called Amjad Khan being drafted in as a potential new fast bowler, will Wood be the equivalent? How much more does Broad have in the tank? Will Rashid ever get a chance? How long will Trott open?” It’s so difficult to say isn’t it? Stokes, you’d expect to have a long Test career. Jordan, I’m not all that sure. And with Rashid, Lyth and Wood, who knows?
Jordan, who thanks to that last paragraph will now surely go on to take 400 Test wickets (you’re welcome, England), sends down a maiden at Chanderpaul.
50th over: West Indies 127-4 (Blackwood 16, Chanderpaul 17) Blackwood hooks, but safely, backward of square for a couple as Ben Stokes returns to the fray. Patient stuff from both batsman and bowler as Stokes finds his line outside off and Blackwood does his best Shivnarine impression. It’s a bit of a war of attrition at the moment.
49th over: West Indies 125-4 (Blackwood 14, Chanderpaul 17) Jordan to Chanderpaul …
It’s a fine over from Jordan, actually, who prompts a couple of defensive pokes in the end from the batsmen. So Block Rocking Beats or anything by Bloc Party would also have been acceptable. Can we come up with a playlist in honour of the limpet that is Shiv Chanderpaul?
Updated
48th over: West Indies 125-4 (Blackwood 14, Chanderpaul 17) Tredwell drops a touch short to Blackwood who, predictably enough, looks to cart the thing into next week. He doesn’t quite manage that, but he does cart the ball to the midwicket boundary.
Updated
47th over: West Indies 120-4 (Blackwood 10, Chanderpaul 16) Chris Jordan returns to the attack. Blackwood flicks away a single, and Chanderpaul leaves alone outside off. And, because of Chanderpaul’s patience, Jordan is forced too straight and the batsmen run through for a leg bye.
46th over: West Indies 118-4 (Blackwood 9, Chanderpaul 16) Blackwood smashed his ninth ball in Test cricket for six on his debut last year, Trent Boult the bowler, so England have had fair warning about his aggressive style. He dabs a single away off Tredwell here.
“James Anderson’s debut has a similarly nostalgic, if not quite retro, feel to it,” notes Tom van der Gucht. “There’s a fair few names there who fell by the wayside …”
45th over: West Indies 117-4 (Blackwood 8, Chanderpaul 16) Chanderpaul makes himself some room and almost laconically cuts Anderson away for four through backward point. And next up Anderson overpitches, allowing Chanderpaul to rock forward and guide through the covers for four more.
44th over: West Indies 109-4 (Blackwood 8, Chanderpaul 8) Bairstow pops up to the dressing room balcony to have a quick word with Otis Gibson, the England bowling coach. A message will presumably be relayed. At the end of the Tredwell over (a maiden to Blackwood), Bairstow does indeed run in and whisper quick word in Alastair Cook’s ear. Plans afoot.
Blackwood does not strike me as someone with an awful lot of patience.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
43rd over: West Indies 109-4 (Blackwood 8, Chanderpaul 8) Blackwood gets his first look at Anderson … and he likes what he sees. He looks to send England’s premier quick bowler into the stands at long off but this mistimes over the covers. He adds a single. I’m liking this fire-and-ice combination from the West Indies.
42nd over: West Indies 108-4 (Blackwood 7, Chanderpaul 8) “I like the opinionated match summary appended atop the OBO,” writes Ian Copestake. “It says ‘West Indies: yet to bat.’” Yes, sorry about that. The gerbil who had gone off on his teabreak earlier has handed in his notice and scurried off to open a small secondhand bookshop/wine shop in the Oxfordshire countryside. I told him that we’ve all got the secondhand bookshop/wine shop in the Oxfordshire countryside dream but that the business model just doesn’t work, but he couldn’t be talked out of it. “Shiraz and Shakespeare, Shiraz and Shakespeare,” he muttered as he left. I don’t know. Gerbils today, eh?
Anyway, Blackwood has just punched Tredwell for a single, and Chanderpaul has pushed away a couple.
41st over: West Indies 105-4 (Blackwood 6, Chanderpaul 6) Chanderpaul v Anderson once more. Chanderpaul blocks and leaves, blocks and leaves as Anderson tests his defences outside off.
Stat!
England team on Shiv's debut: Atherton, Stewart, Ramprakash, Smith, Hick, Thorpe, Salisbury, Russell, Lewis, Fraser, Igglesden #WIvEng
— Christian Drury (@cj_drury) April 14, 2015
40th over: West Indies 105-4 (Blackwood 6, Chanderpaul 6) Blackwood, having clumped Tredwell into the stands from his second ball, this time pays the spinner a bit more respect. Another maiden.
39th over: West Indies 105-4 (Blackwood 6, Chanderpaul 6) With blood in the water Anderson returns to the attack. He has Chanderpaul shuffling uncertainly across his stumps and fending at thin air outside off, then beats the outside edge again with the next. A maiden, which leaves Anderson with enviable figures of 10-7-15-1.
38th over: West Indies 105-4 (Blackwood 6, Chanderpaul 6) Jermaine Blackwood, in his sixth Test, enters the fray with his side under pressure. He blocks out the first. Then brings up the West Indies 100 with the next … WITH A HUGE SIX FLOGGED WIDE OVER LONG OFF! What a shot.
WICKET! Brathwaite c Jordan b Tredwell 39 (West Indies 99-4)
Trouble here. Tredwell straightens up the stagnating Brathwaite and finds the edge. At slip, Chris Jordan takes a quite stunning catch diving low to his right. And the West Indies are in a spot of bother.
37th over: West Indies 99-3 (Brathwaite 39, Chanderpaul 6) Chanderpaul rocks back and pulls firmly to square leg for a couple, but a few balls later there’s a huge appeal as the left-hander is whacked on the pad. Broad gives Cook his “Please give me a review look” …
… but the captain rightly suggests he get back to his mark.
36th over: West Indies 97-3 (Brathwaite 39, Chanderpaul 4) Tredwell has been tourniquet-tight to Brathwaite but he offers him a soupçon of width here and is cut away into the off side for a couple.
Updated
35th over: West Indies 95-3 (Brathwaite 37, Chanderpaul 4) Brathwaite plays out five dots to Broad then dinks one behind square on the leg side for a single to pinch the strike.
34th over: West Indies 94-3 (Brathwaite 36, Chanderpaul 4) The slo-mo replay and Hawkeye of that Samuels wicket shows Broad just rolling his fingers over the ball for a leg-cutter, and the ball moving away from Samuels just a touch, just enough. Very fine bowling in fairness. Tredwell rattles through another, just one from the over.
33rd over: West Indies 93-3 (Brathwaite 35, Chanderpaul 4) That’s a big wicket and though it goes into the book under Broad’s name, he can thank James Tredwell for helping to build pressure at the other end. Chanderpaul is almost done for first ball, with a leading edge looping through the gap at third slip. England have their tails up now.
WICKET! Samuels c Buttler b Broad 33 (West Indies 89-3)
One run and 17 dots since tea … 18 dots, 19 dots. It’s Test match cricket, obviously, and West Indies are still under the pump a touch but they can’t allow themselves to lose the initiative. This will help – a Samuels edge/late dab is guided wide of slip and beats the chase to the rope.
But two balls later he’s gone! A poke outside off, the slightest of edges and a crucial wicket pouched by Buttler.
32nd over: West Indies 85-2 (Brathwaite 35, Samuels 29) Tredwell continues to twirl but continues to find the middle of Brathwaite’s bat (which is, by the way, gloriously reddened by impact marks – it looks like something you’d see in the corner of a dungeon in a Saw film). Another maiden. This pair have just got themselves a little becalmed.
31st over: West Indies 85-2 (Brathwaite 35, Samuels 29) Stuart Broad (8-0-26-0) returns. Braithwaite fends a bouncer into the leg side for a single. You just get the sense that this pair have got themselves a little becalmed. “Crazy hour at some point boyz, ker-ray-zee hour!” chirps Buttler from behind the stumps. Steady stuff from Broad.
30th over: West Indies 84-2 (Brathwaite 34, Samuels 29) James Tredwell continues after tea. After that first over, where Samuels tried to play the spinner from halfway down the track, the batsman has stayed back and respectful. He continues in that fashion here, seeing out a maiden.
Players back out. 38 overs remaining. Off we go again.
TEA
West Indies 84-2. They trail England by 315 runs with eight wickets remaining. During the break, why not read up on Yorkshire’s winning start to the defence of their county championship title, made despite England borrowing three key players for water carrying duties in Antigua.
Jason Gillespie was certainly happy: “They took all our players away, banned our captain and we still came away with a 10-wicket win, so we’re very pleased. It’s one of the best wins I’ve ever been involved in during my time in cricket.”
29th over: West Indies 84-2 (Brathwaite 34, Samuels 29) Some thick cloud is looming towards the Sir Viv Richards Stadium, but in general the good thing about an Antiguan rain is that it tends to be a bit like a toilet stop at a dubious service station – a quick splash for 30 seconds, then on your way ASAP. England think they might have Samuels caught in the gully, and the umpires are taking a look but it’s a bump ball.
On the stump mic we hear someone say what sounds very much like “massive pile of shit” (not sure who, though Stokes would be the obvious candidate having sent down another frustrating over) and also the umpires say “tea”.
28th over: West Indies 80-2 (Brathwaite 34, Samuels 27) Tredwell again. This time Samuels stays pinned to the crease, prodding and poking away. From the last he whips a single wide of mid on.
27th over: West Indies 82-2 (Brathwaite 34, Samuels 27) Samuels tonks Stokes for another boundary – the third in the 13 balls he’s bowled – but the bowler responds by beating the outside edge with a cracker. Trott does some loud cajoling from second slips – “three for for tea, three for for tea”.
Updated
26th over: West Indies 75-2 (Brathwaite 32, Samuels 22) James Tredwell into the attack. And Marlon Samuels down the pitch. The first he clubs away for two, but the second offers Tredders what would’ve been a stonking a return catch, diving to his right. Like a man at an all you can eat buffet who doesn’t know how to pace himself, he wants to tuck into everything. Even so, just three from the over.
25th over: West Indies 72-2 (Brathwaite 32, Samuels 19) Brathwaite again finds the rope off Stokes, this time with a square drive to the point boundary. Stokes ends the over by kicking the turf in frustration. The plan is clearly to bowl full but he’s just overdoing it a touch at the moment.
Stokes on now. Bowls too much around his front leg rather than over it for my liking, which will always mean inconsistency.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
24th over: West Indies 66-2 (Brathwaite 26, Samuels 19) Samuels’ average in Tests against England is over 70, which is a far cry from his average against most other Test nations. He’s started very confidently here, though he is one of those players that, from a bowler’s point of view, Always Gives You A Chance. Anderson probes outside off; Samuels keeps his powder dry.
23rd over: West Indies 66-2 (Brathwaite 26, Samuels 19) Ben Stokes comes into the attack for his first Test bowl since taking five wickets against India at Lord’s last July. He offers Brathwaite a big full toss outside off, which is clubbed mercilessly away for four. After a shaky start he found a bit of a groove there. Just that one boundary from the over.
22nd over: West Indies 62-2 (Brathwaite 22, Samuels 19) Anderson is asked to crunch all that frustration from the missed run out into a ball of pure bowling energy. Samuels, though, gets up on his tip-toes, though, and punches authoritatively through the covers for four more. Fine shot. I do think he and Chanderpaul will be the two key wickets for England in this series.
21st over: West Indies 56-2 (Brathwaite 22, Samuels 13) Broad offers Samuels a near half-volley and the batsman tucks in, smiting straight back past the bowler for four. The bowler bites back with a vicious bouncer that rises past the batsman’s throat. From the last the batsmen take a quick single … too quick. Anderson picks up and throws at the stumps. Samuels is out by a yard if he hits … but he misses. And there’s no one backing up so we get four overthrows.
20th over: West Indies 47-2 (Brathwaite 22, Samuels 4) Apologies if our live score at the top of the page is a little behind. The gerbil powering the wheel that keeps them up to date is off on his teabreak. Little tiny cups, tiny piece of battenberg, that sort of thing. Just try to picture that – a gerbil drinking tea from a tiny teacup, and eating tiny pieces of battenberg from a tiny plate – when the rage about the completely out of date score is rising.
Chris “CJ” Jordan continues. He hasn’t got where he is today by bowling giving away easy runs, and he doesn’t do so here. A maiden.
19th over: West Indies 47-2 (Brathwaite 22, Samuels 4) Broad has Brathwaite groping rather blindly outside off, one of those shuffling defensive pushes where the feet tippy-tappy through after the arms have already gone off and done their own thing. A ball later Anderson has a bit of a grimace after misfielding at mid off.
@John_Ashdown I know Broad is a streaky bowler but if he's going to float them up at 82mph, he'll be waiting a long time for the next one
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) April 14, 2015
18th over: West Indies 46-2 (Brathwaite 21, Samuels 4) Marlon Samuels gets off the mark with a cracking drive through the covers, struck clean as a whistle on the up.
WICKET! Bravo c Buttler b Jordan (West Indies 42-2)
A horrendous shot from Darren Bravo, who edges an attempted leave through to Buttler. It was, if you’ll forgive me, in the right area from Jordan but it was hardly a jaffer. He does have a very happy knack of getting wickets with average deliveries, which is perhaps testament to his pressure-building ability.
17th over: West Indies 41-1 (Brathwaite 20, Bravo 10) Hello everyone. Send your thoughts to john.ashdown@theguardian.com if you want to “get involved”. Stuart Broad is involved here, straying a touch too straight to Bravo and being flicked away for a single behind square on the leg side for his trouble. Brathwaite does well to control one jagging up towards his ribcage and Bravo drives square for two from the last.
“I expect you’ve got something in reserve if Jimmy gets the (bowling and batting) records on your OBO watch,” writes John Starbuck (who has rather over-estimated the levels of OBO preparation), “but what would you say/play if you were the ground announcer?” Anyone?
Updated
16th over: West Indies 37-1 (Brathwaite 19, Bravo 7)
Anderson had five maidens in his seven overs; Broad and Jordan between them have no maidens in nine. A couple more singles here, before Brathwaite mistimes a drive without moving his feet, the ball moves away a fraction and the batsman is lucky to miss it completely. The next and final delivery, inevitably, rockets to the fence for four. After which, the players will take drinks and at OBO HQ there’ll be a substitution, John Ashdown incoming.
15th over: West Indies 31-1 (Brathwaite 14, Bravo 6)
Anderson’s first spell is over, his seven overs bringing nine runs and one wicket, with five maidens, and Broad replaces him after a change of ends. “I doubt he’ll celebrate it like I did,” says Botham, England’s current record Test wicket-taker, of Anderson, soon to overtake him. So how did you celebrate, asks Mike Atherton, inevitably. “Long and hard,” says Beefy. “About 10 days.”
14th over: West Indies 29-1 (Brathwaite 13, Bravo 5)
Another lbw appeal, the biggest and loudest yet. Billy Bowden shakes his head, as does Cook when Jordan, the bowler, looks at him pleadingly, like a dog who wants a scrap of your dinner. Just as well, too – a rubbish appeal, the ball would have missed four stumps. Later, a short, wide delivery is appropriately dealt with by Brathwaite, who cuts it to the backward point boundary with great force.
13th over: West Indies 25-1 (Brathwaite 9, Bravo 5)
Anderson continues, starting over the wicket for three deliveries – two outswingers and a bouncer – and then round the wicket for three more, the second of which swings into the batsman and clumps his pad. There’s another optimistic appeal, but it would have missed leg stump by a distance and everyone involved knew it. Maiden.
12th over: West Indies 25-1 (Brathwaite 9, Bravo 5)
Jordan bowls and Bravo gets off the mark, flicking the ball off his pads to the square leg boundary. And he then moves a little further away from the mark with a single.
11th over: West Indies 20-1 (Brathwaite 9, Bravo 0)
Anderson’s first delivery is a stonker, flies past the bat to Buttler and prompts a loud appeal from behind the wicket – the bowler only joins in after a while, and then half-heartedly – which doesn’t impress the umpire. There may have been a very slight edge, but with no hotspot or snicko in the DRS armoury this series (host broadcasters being expected to foot the bill for them, rather than the ICC), there’s no point reviewing. Lovely over, that, with movement in both directions.
10th over: West Indies 20-1 (Brathwaite 9, Bravo 0)
Jordan comes in, and bowls reliably wide of Brathwaite, who isn’t inclined or induced into playing a stroke until the final delivery, which is flicked to square leg for a single.
9th over: West Indies 19-1 (Brathwaite 8, Bravo 0)
Ye olde wickete maidene. The switch to over the wicket works a treat, taking Smith second ball, and Bravo sees out the remainder of the over.
WICKET! Smith c Buttler b Anderson 11 (West Indies 19-1)
One down, three to go! Anderson moves another step closer to history by sliding one across the left-handed Smith, locating the edge and watching the ball deflect into Buttler’s gloves.
Jimmy gets the left hander, over the wicket again having gone round, and finding the edge. WI 19-1
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
8th over: West Indies 19-0 (Brathwaite 8, Smith 11)
Come on Stu! Nice bowling, buddy! Yeah, come on, woo-hoo, you go boyo! Etc and so forth. Three runs scored along the way.
7th over: West Indies 16-0 (Brathwaite 6, Smith 10)
Anderson pitches it up and tempts Smith into a drive which, to be fair, he absolutely middles, sending the ball rocketing through the covers. Four runs.
6th over: West Indies 9-0 (Brathwaite 4, Smith 5)
One thing that England seem to do a lot more than West Indies is shout encouraging guff at the bowler between deliveries. Every time Broad delivers there’s a veritable cacophony of Nice one, Broadys coming from all corners of the field. I has no obvious effect.
5th over: West Indies 7-0 (Brathwaite 2, Smith 5)
That’s a maiden over from Anderson to Smith.
4th over: West Indies 7-0 (Brathwaite 2, Smith 5)
Broad gets the second session under way. There’s a bit of cloud in the sky, but it’s of the white-and-fluffy variety rather than the grey-and-threatening type. An attacking field, with three slips, a gully and a short leg, but Brathwaite gave them no encouragement there, snaffling a couple to mid-on along the way.
“I suspect Jimmy has taken the Ambrose End because there is one left hander (I know that means there is one right hander!), and his default to them is away to the slips,” writes Mike Selvey, as the players emerge, post-lunch, “which in itself is unusual for a right-arm swing bowler who will normally want to target the pad more. Jimmy’s lbw percentage against left-handers is pretty low.” Yes, that seems sensible. Anyway, we’re about to get back into it. Deep breath, now.
Lunch
3rd over: West Indies 5-0 (Brathwaite 0, Smith 5)
Anderson slides the ball across Smith, who drives at one and misses by the smidgiest smidgeon, with three slips and a gully waiting. The next is worked off the pads to square leg for a couple, and that’s the last significant action of a fine session for the hosts.
2nd over: West Indies 3-0 (Brathwaite 0, Smith 3)
Broad starts from the Roberts end, and gets very excited when an inswinger slams Smith in the pads. There’s a brief discussion among the England players, but they don’t review it. Just as well – it pitched (just) outside leg stump, and would probably have missed the wicket anyway. Smith scores the first runs with a last-ball push down the ground, fielded just before it trickled into the rope.
1st over: West Indies 0-0 (Brathwaite 0, Smith 0)
Anderson gets the innings under way with a maiden. Selve’s point below looks pretty strong to me – perhaps he’ll switch ends after lunch (just an over or two away). The highlight of the over is a peach of an inswinger, wind-assisted, that Brathwaite digs out, fifth ball.
Anderson taking the Ambrose end which with left to right cross breeze surprises me.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
Innings break
A useful final stand for England, whose 399 runs is not at all bad in the circumstances, though with the sun now starting to blaze it looks like West Indies have used up the best of the day’s conditions. Certainly a good session for the hosts, though their reliance (at least until Broad and Anderson gave their wickets away) on bowling the right line and the right (full) length at least gave England a decent blueprint for success (not that England haven’t ignored a few decent blueprints of late).
Anderson might have missed out on becoming the slowest man to reach 1,000 runs (he’s now 31 short), but as he leads the England team onto the field, the time has come for him to claim the four wickets he needs to become England’s most successful bowler. The West Indies innings is but moments away.
England 399 all out
Earlier in the 111th over Jordan grabbed an early single and then Anderson leaned back to slap the ball through the covers pretty handsomely. Unfortunately it was the precursor not to more thrilling boundary-troubling, but an extremely limp wicket-surrendering.
WICKET! Anderson c Holder b Samuels 20 (England 399 all out)
Anderson, looking magnificent if not exactly keen on having to run, limply swats the ball straight to cover, who takes the easiest catch of his life at chest height.
110th over: England 394-9 (Jordan 20, Anderson 16)
Taylor bowls across Anderson, the ball heading down the leg side. The batsman leaps to his right to give himself room and then heaves at the ball, sending it, not enormously cleanly, through midwicket for four. Anderson has 16 from 19 balls, 15 of them dots. “As they used to say of Swann,” notes Marie Meyer, “he doesn’t bat. He hits fours.”
109th over: England 390-9 (Jordan 20, Anderson 12)
Holder bowls short (very) and fast (quite) and the ball bounces high (very) past Jordan, and a wide is signalled. A little later Jordan gobbles up a wide one, smacking it past point for four.
@Simon_Burnton Interesting stat about slowest to 1000 runs. I was sure I witnessed Gary Kirsten get the slowest millennium in one match...
— Neilrdelaney (@nrd1981) April 14, 2015
108th over: England 385-9 (Jordan 16, Anderson 12)
All the action is contained in two deliveries, in the middle of the over. The first one is sent straight back down the ground by Jordan for three, and the next by cut square by Anderson, who is scoring entirely in fours. These are now the fourth and fifth highest-scoring batsmen of England’s innings.
107th over: England 378-9 (Jordan 13, Anderson 8)
Anderson swishes at the ball a couple of times, and gets away with it twice. BenjaminButtoning: excellent verb. He does hit the ball once or twice as well, but neither very hard nor very far. Maiden.
@Simon_Burnton Broad is a reverse Gillespie. He peaked too soon and is now Benjamin Buttoning his way towards the no.11 spot. #ENGvsWI
— James Binns (@JamesBinns) April 14, 2015
106th over: England 378-9 (Jordan 13, Anderson 8)
Jordan pulls nicely for four, and then flicks a fuller delivery off his pads for four more. “Forget about going past Beefy’s wicket tally,” points out Tom Bowtell. “Jimmy Anderson’s a piffling 43 runs away from claiming the record everyone really dreams about: slowest man ever to 1000 Test runs.” That’s real history right there.
105th over: England 370-9 (Jordan 5, Anderson 8)
Anderson drives down the ground, past mid-on for four. Lovely. So seven batsmen have (with one wicket remaining) contributed a grand total of 42 runs to England’s total. That the tourist’s total is at all decent is down solely to Bell, Root and Stokes, England’s BRS system.
104th over: England 365-9 (Jordan 4, Anderson 4)
So from 341-4 with seven balls to play yesterday to 361-9, 16 overs, five wickets, 20 runs. Anderson does clip the final ball of this over past point for four, mind.
Broad confirms his slide towards being a genuine number eleven. Slaps one to point. 361-9.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
WICKET! Broad c Blackwood b Roach 0 (England 361-9)
There I was, busily researching stats to illuminate Broad’s decline as a batsman, and he does something to illustrate it better than I possibly could, boshing the third ball after drinks straight to the chap at backward point!
103rd over: England 361-8 (Jordan 4, Broad 0)
It’s another maiden. England all tied up here, and let’s hope someone’s put something good in the drinks they’re about to have.
The two morning sessions so far: 69-6 in 37. Two post-lunch sessions yesterday: 292-2 in 65. Value of Bell-Root-Stokes innings growing.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) April 14, 2015
102nd over: England 361-8 (Jordan 4, Broad 0)
The wicket comes from the last ball of the over, West Indies totally on top this session.
Buttler loses patience, nibbles and caught behind. Never remotely in touch. Eng 361-8 and will want the cloud to hang about now
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
WICKET! Buttler c Ramdin b Roach 0 (England 361-8)
Buttler goes for a 22-ball duck! Again, full and straight from the excellent Roach, Buttler tries to flick the ball off his ankles and he nicks it through to Ramdin.
101st over: England 361-7 (Buttler 0, Jordan 4)
Jordan, reprieved, promptly thumps the ball wide of cover for four. HawkEye later shows that the ball was going to clear the stumps anyway, and West Indies now have no reviews remaining.
Not out!
The big question is, did the ball flick the edge of the bat before it hit the pad? It’s close – looked to me like it probably was, and on Sky Nasser Hussain disagrees, but I can’t say that with any certainty. There’s no hotspot, so we can’t be sure. The TV umpire looks at it several times, zooms in, looks at it again, and decides that it might have done. And so the review is dismissed without HawkEye being called upon.
REVIEW! Is Jordan out lbw here?
The umpire thinks not. The bowler, Holder, thinks so. It’s gone upstairs…
100th over: England 357-7 (Buttler 0, Jordan 0)
Roach is back, and he finds Buttler’s edge, only for the ball to bounce well short of second slip. The last five overs have brought two wickets and no runs.
99th over: England 357-7 (Buttler 0, Jordan 0)
That’s good bowling, that, and a wicket maiden is Holder’s reward. Today has started very much as did yesterday, and now England have only Broad and Anderson to come.
WICKET! Tredwell c Bravo b Holder 8 (England 357-7)
Bravo’s third catch of the innings, all taken at first slip. A fine, full delivery tempts Tredwell into the drive, it moves a fraction and the catch flies to slip.
98th over: England 357-6 (Tredwell 8, Buttler 0)
Taylor continues, and Buttler defends all but two deliveries, both of which pick out the same fielder at cover.
97th over: England 357-6 (Tredwell 8, Buttler 0)
Holder replaces Roach, and Tredwell plays out a maiden. “Not to worry about Stokes’ dismissal, Tredwell averages 45 in tests, 20 more than the New Flintoff coming into this innings,” writes Peter Foster. Tredwell does indeed average 45, including this innings. Though this is only his second innings.
96th over: England 357-6 (Tredwell 8, Buttler 0)
Buttler’s first delivery tempts him into a drive, swings away a fraction and just misses the bat.
Stokes tries to steer Taylor through gully and is caught there instead for 79. Eng 357 for six
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
WICKET! Stokes c Holder b Taylor 79 (England 357-6)
The first wicket of the day, and it ain’t Tredwell. Stokes seemed to make a fairly deliberate attempt to work the ball past gully, as if he didn’t realise that Holder was standing right there, holding out his hands.
95th over: England 357-5 (Stokes 79, Tredwell 8)
Roach continues, and each batsman helps himself to a single.
94th over: England 355-5 (Stokes 78, Tredwell 7)
Tredwell’s looking really quite decent, and fends off a ball bouncing towards his armpit in admirably controlled style. So, I’m sure you’re asking yourself how Ian Bell might have felt after completing his first-day century? This Guardian video can exclusively† reveal the answer*
* I’ll tell you: he was “pleased”
† It isn’t actually exclusive
93rd over: England 352-5 (Stokes 78, Tredwell 4)
Roach gets the ball to jag into Tredwell’s pad, though it flicked off an edge on its way there. “So England brought in a night watchman to protect Buttler from having to stand at the non-striker’s end?” wonders George Wright. “There’s only one explanation - he must still be getting flashbacks to being Mankaded last summer …”
92nd over: England 351-5 (Stokes 78, Tredwell 3)
Taylor is warned for encroaching onto the pitch in his follow-through, after his first ball of the day. Stokes lets the first few balls slide past, a little too wide, but then when one bounces towards his hip he cuts it to the backward point boundary. “Thank god for Ian Bell. When it was 3-34 yesterday I was one wicket away from a lengthy England-cricket viewing sabbatical,” writes Harry Phillips. “Do you think we could petition the MCC/ECB/NSA that for all home games whenever IRB, AKA The Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice comes out to bat we play this on the big screen, sort of like the boxing but much longer and with substantially more flying fruit and veg?” Sadly I think it’s unlikely.
91st over: England 347-5 (Stokes 74, Tredwell 3)
Unusually for a nightwatchman, Tredwell had to wait until the following morning to face his first delivery. Roach’s first delivery is arrowed at his pads, and flicked off them to backward point, where it’s fielded a couple of feet from the rope. A near-identical delivery a couple of balls later is flicked to midwicket by Stokes for a couple.
The players are out. Still cloudy, and again a strong wind flying across the strip. Game on.
Game on here. Heavy shower passed through not long ago and some dark cloud about. ball still new, bowlers rested, so Eng start afresh.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 14, 2015
An interesting day yesterday, with West Indies bowling beautifully and with great discipline in a tactical first session, and England improving strongly thereafter. With moisture in the air and Tredwell in as nightwatchman, there’s potential here for the fielding side – a few quick wickets will put the game back in the balance. On the other hand, if Stokes and Buttler are in at lunch it would probably be bad news for the hosts. Anyway, we’re going to get some cricket, on time, in a few minutes. Happy days!
Yesterday was 6th time since 2003 that WI have bowled first & had opponents 3 down for <50. They haven't gone on to win any of previous 5.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) April 14, 2015
The covers are off, apparently, so we could start on time in 15 minutes.
Hello world!
So apparently it’s raining in Antigua, with showers forecast all morning (it’s 9.30am over there). Stay right here for updates on this thrilling breaking story.
Dark clouds overhead and rain in Antigua. The covers are on, let's hope it's only a quick shower. #WIvEng pic.twitter.com/S9zzby4KNW
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) April 14, 2015
This is not the Antigua we wanted!Rain falling across the Sir Viv Richards Stadium #WIvEng pic.twitter.com/mTr6IOVZta
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) April 14, 2015
Simon will be here shortly. Whilst you wait, here’s Mike Selvey’s match report from day one.
Two teams, one of them, England, down on their uppers these past six months or so and under intense scrutiny and the other labelled mediocre by the ECB chairman-elect, Colin Graves, contrived to produce an enthralling opening day to their three-Test series. It was not so much cut and thrust as cat and mouse for the first part, attritional cricket where for both teams patience was a virtue and paid its dividend.
If West Indies had the upper hand during an intense morning session when, against any expectation, they put England in and removed the top three to leave the innings at 34 for three and potentially in tatters, then Ian Bell and Joe Root with a fourth-wicket stand of 177, a partnership of great maturity, had more than redressed the balance.
Later, as the West Indian discipline dissipated and the bowling became ragged, Ben Stokes added impetus at the right time, making 71 not out from 80 balls and sharing in a fifth-wicket stand of 130 with Bell, the pair flaying the second new ball in the process. Root, badly dropped at midwicket when 61, was finally dismissed in the final session for 83 but Bell completed the 22nd hundred of his career and his first abroad in 23 Tests to make 143, from 256 balls with 20 fours and a six, before a terrific delivery from Kemar Roach that bounced and left him had him caught behind in the penultimate over. He now stands alongside Geoff Boycott, Walter Hammond and Colin Cowdrey among England Test centurions, behind only Kevin Pietersen and beyond that Alastair Cook. England finished on 341 for five.
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