| Test Two, Kensington Oval, Barbados (Day One): |
| England 244-3: Root 119*, Lawrence 91 |
| West Indies yet to bat |
| Scorekeeper |
Joe Root punished the West Indies with another century as England took command of the second Test on day one in Barbados.
Root could have been caught in 23rd and dropped in 34th, but he finished 119th and wasn’t eliminated: his 25th Test ton and second in as many innings.
England’s rise was slightly slowed by the loss of Dan Lawrence to close out the day, after he compiled a dazzling 91.
Lawrence had steered the course for his first test ton after combining with Root for a brilliant and aggressive 164 position, but he took some extra coverage from Jason Holder in the final over.
Root had set up a platform with Alex Lees, who made 30 of 138 balls, after starter Zak Crawley was caught by a duck in the fourth over.
The late terrain boosted the West Indies, which had otherwise been a waste on another flat field.
The tourists had earlier made their debuts for Saqib Mahmood and fellow sailor Matt Fisher, the latter a late replacement for Craig Overton, who was ruled out due to illness.
- Reaction to the first day in Barbados
Late wicket takes the shine off England’s day
Until Lawrence was sacked, England was headed for a near-perfect day.
Their captain had scored another impressive century and Lawrence, one of the young batsmen given a chance in this series after the Ashes humiliation, had played his best test hit to date.
But the 24-year-old, perhaps with triple figures on his mind and having broken the previous two deliveries by four, lunged at a Holder ball out wide and offered up a catch. It would have been the penultimate dance of the day.
Holder celebrated wildly as the West Indies, who had been average for most of the day, responded.
Lawrence, on the other hand, had to drag himself off the field while the thousands of English fans he had woken up earlier applauded.
England are still in control, but the nature of the field means a score close to 400 is likely to be even.
West Indies, having capped scoring in the early part of the day, now hope to keep England below that.
Root delivers again
Root’s latest ton is his eighth in 19 Tests since the start of 2021, an impressive run in which he has struggled almost single-handedly to keep his side’s batting lineup afloat.
Coming in at 4-1, he looked supreme early on, hitting a drop shot for four from his ninth ball and driving perfectly through coverage soon after.
His 109 in the second inning in the Antigua draw didn’t stand a chance. In Barbados, on a similarly flat field, he offered two chances. but mistakes saw him pardoned.
It first appeared on the inside edge of his pad and on the gloves of wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva, but umpire Nigel Duguid was undeterred after a lukewarm appeal from the West Indies.
The fact that the hosts wasted an optimistic review of lbw moments before will have influenced their decision not to contest the decision.
His second life came shortly after lunch when he tickled Kemar Roach’s leg. Da Silva put a glove on the ball but could not hold on.
From then on Root did not look back. Buoyed by Lawrence, he became more and more fluid, scoring in his scoring areas: off his pads and through the covers.
Importantly, he’s played tackles from another captain as his team take their quiet steps on the road to recovery after their Ashes loss.
more to follow
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