ST GEORGE’S: Joshua da Silva’s unbeaten maiden Test half-century in the Caribbean anchored a West Indies lower-order revival which pushed the home side ahead of England on the second day of the third and final Test on Friday.

Replying to the tourists’ first innings total of 204, da Silva’s unbeaten 54 and vital contributions from Kyle Mayers, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach lifted the home side from the depths of 95 for six to 232 for eight at stumps.

While not nearly as dramatic as the last-wicket stand of 90 between Saqib Mahmood and Jack Leach on day one which resuscitated the English from 114 for nine, the West Indian version of tail-end resistance saw 137 runs added for the loss of two wickets.

In stark contrast to the dreary cricket which defined most of the drawn first two matches, da Silva (54 not out) and Roach (25 not out) will be keen to extend a ninth-wicket stand on the third morning which has already produced 55 runs and earned the home team a lead of 28 runs with two wickets in hand.

Chris Woakes led the England effort with the ball, taking three wickets in mid-afternoon to trigger a West Indies slide which seemed terminal until da Silva joined Mayers.

Successive partnerships of 33 with Mayers, 49 with Joseph (28) and the unbroken stand with Roach followed, the ninth-wicket pair unperturbed by the arrival of the second new ball half-hour before the close of play.

Da Silva’s half-century, his fourth overall in Test cricket, has occupied more than three hours in which he faced 152 deliveries, stroking four fours.

“My home form hasn’t been very good so it was especially pleasing to get runs in from of home support,” said de Silva.

“I have complete faith in the guys in the lower-order and they even outshone me this evening. We’ll be looking to extend it as far as we can tomorrow because Jayden [Seales] can bat as well and we want to have some runs to work with in the second innings.”

Under pressure to prove his Test match value outside of England, Woakes extracted disconcerting bounce in the post-lunch period to account for Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder in the space of four balls before removing Jermaine Blackwood with a full-length delivery.

It was at that point -- 95 for six -- when da Silva entered the proceedings and while Mayers (28) took the limelight in their brief stand before he fell to Ben Stokes, the wicketkeeper-batsman displayed the calmness and maturity which has become a feature of his play since his Test debut in New Zealand at the end of 2020.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 204

WEST INDIES (1st Innings):

K. Brathwaite lbw Stokes 17

J. Campbell c Foakes b Overton 35

S. Brooks lbw Mahmood 13

N. Bonner c Foakes b Woakes 4

J. Blackwood lbw Woakes 18

J. Holder c Bairstow b Woakes 0

K. Mayers c Mahmood b Stokes 28

J. da Silva not out 54

A. Joseph c Foakes b Overton 28

K. Roach not out 25

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-7, W-2) 10

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 86 overs) 232

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-50 (Brathwaite), 2-68 (Brooks), 3-69 (Campbell), 4-82 (Bonner), 5-82 (Holder), 6-95 (Blackwood), 7-128 (Mayers), 8-177 (Joseph)

STILL TO BAT: J. Seales

BOWLING: C. Woakes 20-6-48-3 (1w); Overton 20-1-71-2 (1w); Mahmood 18-7-39-1; Stokes 16-2-40-2; Leach 12-3-26-0

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2022