BIRMINGHAM: Jason Holder produced a fine all-round display as the West Indies took three late wickets, including both England openers with successive deliveries, in a stirring fightback on Friday’s opening day of the third Test at Edgbaston.

Holder’s 59 helped turn the West Indies’ 115-5 into a total of 282 all out as they looked to restore some pride, having already lost this three-match series at 2-0 down.

And the towering all-rounder then held two fine slip catches as England slumped to 38-3 at stumps, a deficit of 244 runs.

Zak Crawley fell for eight when he edged a loose drive off fast bowler Jayden Seales, with Holder holding a sharp chance to his left at second slip.

England were now 29-1 off four overs exactly and next ball Crawley’s opening partner, Ben Duckett, played on to Alzarri Joseph.

England had sent in Mark Wood as a nightwatchman after Crawley’s exit but he fell for a duck when edging Seales low to Holder.

Seales had figures of 2-19 in four overs at the close, with Ollie Pope and Joe Root — who both made hundreds in England’s 241-run win in the second Test at Trent Bridge — set to resume on Saturday.

Earlier, West Indies were well-placed 76-0 after captain Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss beneath blue skies on a good batting pitch.

But they then suffered yet another of the collapses that had been their undoing in the first two Tests as five wickets fell either side of lunch.

Former captain Holder, however, found an ally in Joshua Da Silva (49) as the duo kept England at bay with a sixth-wicket partnership of 109 in 32 overs.

But the remainder of the innings fell away tamely, with fast bowler Gus Atkinson taking 4-67 in 20 overs and Chris Woakes 3-59 in 18 on his Warwickshire home ground.

After a watchful beginning, Brathwaite drove Woakes for two fours in the fifth over.

Mikyle Louis provided sound support as the 31-year-old Brathwaite, in his 92nd Test, completed a 70-ball fifty, including six fours.

But England hit back when Louis (26) fended at an Atkinson delivery that moved away to give wicket-keeper Jamie Smith a simple catch.

New batsman Kirk McKenzie struck three fours before, only half forward, he was clean bowled by a 91mph (146 kph) full-length delivery from express quick Mark Wood.

And to the last ball of the session, Alick Athanaze carelessly bottom-edged an attempted pull off Atkinson onto his stumps, leaving the West Indies 97-3 at lunch and Brathwaite unbeaten on 56.

West Indies would have wanted their skipper to go onto a hundred.

But instead he fell for 61 when, trying to pull Wood, he gloved the ball down the legside to Smith. Wood, unlucky to take just two wickets in the whole of the second Test, had 2-52 on Friday.

And 115-4 became 115-5 when Kavem Hodge, who made a maiden Test century at Trent Bridge, gifted his wicket when deliberately leaving a Woakes ball that hit the top of off stump.

But with the West Indies in danger of being bowled out on the opening day, Holder counter-attacked.

He slashed opposing all-rounder Stokes for four and struck 20-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who took a match-winning 5-41 at Trent Bridge, for several boundaries including a superb straight six over long-on.

Holder went on to a 92-ball fifty, also including six fours.

Da Silva, however, fell one shy of the landmark when caught behind off a good-length Woakes ball to leave the West Indies 224-6.

And Holder’s innings ended when Atkinson flattened his off stump.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES: K. Brathwaite c Smith b Wood 61 M. Louis c Smith b Atkinson 26 K. McKenzie b Wood 12 A. Athanaze b Atkinson 2 K. Hodge b Woakes 13 J. Holder b Atkinson 59 J. Da Silva c Smith b Woakes 49 A. Joseph c Stokes b Woakes 15 G. Motie c Root b Atkinson 8 J. Seales not out 7 S. Joseph c Crawley b Bashir 16 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-6, NB-3, W-1) 14 TOTAL (all out, 75.1 overs) 282 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-76 (Louis), 2-93 (McKenzie), 3-97 (Athanaze), 4-115 (Brathwaite), 5-115 (Hodge), 6-224 (Da Silva), 7-244 (Joseph), 8-246 (Holder), 9-259 (Motie) BOWLING: Woakes 18-3-69-3 (2nb), Atkinson 20-1-67-4 (1w), Wood 16-2-52-2, Stokes 11-0-29-0 (1nb), Bashir 10.1-0-55-1 ENGLAND: Z. Crawley c Holder b Seales 18 B. Duckett b Joseph 3 M. Wood c Holder b Seales 0 O. Pope not out 6 J. Root not out 2 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5) 9 TOTAL (for three wickets, eight overs) 38 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-29 (Crawley), 2-29 (Duckett), 3-31 (Wood) STILL TO BAT: H. Brook, B. Stokes, J. Smith, C. Woakes, G. Atkinson, S. Bashir BOWLING: Joseph 4-2-10-1, Seales 4-1-19-2 UMPIRES: Adrian Holdstock (South Africa), Nitin Menon (India) TV UMPIRE: Rodney Tucker (Australia) MATCH REFEREE: Javagal Srinath (India)

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2024