England close on 217-1, a lead of 153, after day four of the first Test against West Indies; Zak Crawley hits his second Test ton in an unbroken second-wicket partnership with Joe Root (84no); West Indies earlier bowled out for 375, a lead of 64 on first innings
Saturday 12 March 2022 07:28, UK
Zak Crawley scored his second Test century as England dominated day four of the first Test against West Indies.
The England opener (117no) put on an unbroken 193 with captain Joe Root (84no) for the second wicket as the tourists gave themselves the opportunity to push for victory on day five, although the docile nature of the Antigua pitch means a draw remains by far the most likely outcome.
After West Indies were bowled out for 375 in the first over of the day, England lost Alex Lees early but closed on 217-1, a lead of 153, with Crawley and Root first wiping out the 64-run first-innings deficit before pressing on to put the tourists in a strong position by the close.
They would have hoped to be further ahead, but rain brought play to a premature close and Root must now contemplate how long to bat on for on day five.
That decision is likely to be influenced by how well the pitch holds up as well as the fitness of fast bowler Mark Wood, who will continue to receive treatment after sustaining an elbow injury on day three with England retaining hope he will be fit to bowl in the final innings of the match.
It took just three balls for England to wrap up West Indies' first innings in the morning, Jack Leach (2-79) trapping Jayden Seales (0) lbw with just two runs added to the overnight total.
It was then over to the infamously fragile England top order to try and take them to parity and beyond.
The pitch gave them every chance of doing so but, with Kemar Roach swinging the new ball prodigiously, it was not going to be straightforward and what ended as a day to cherish for Crawley was almost one to forget as he was given out lbw without scoring.
He reviewed successfully with Roach's delivery shown to have been swinging down leg and, having got that reprieve, the Kent right-hander got off the mark with a boundary worked off his pads.
Debutant Lees (6) and Crawley got through the first 10 overs without any other real scares but just when they might have thought they were through the toughest of the conditions, the former was pinned lbw by Roach - a near-identical dismissal to the first innings.
The left-hander reviewed in vain and the over ended with another review, this time from the Windies for another Roach to Crawley lbw shout - again it went the England man's way as his off-stump guard enabled him to get outside the line of the stumps.
Root was made to battle through his first 20 balls or so as Crawley continued to score freely through the legside as the bowlers targeted his pads, but by lunch the pair were both looking comfortable, and England had turned a 64-run deficit into an eight-run lead.
The day's first flurry of rain arrived shortly after the break but quickly blew through and Crawley brought up his half-century from 100 balls.
With the ball softening with every over and the early swing long gone, the threat from the Windies seamers was almost non-existent and with left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul struggling, Root was able to bring up a chanceless fifty - his 54th in Tests - late in the afternoon session.
In that same over, Permaul thought he had Crawley caught at slip via his boot but replays showed it was a bump ball and the England opener showed how well he was seeing it with a pair of commanding cut shots just before tea.
A 74-run wicketless session had stretched the lead to 82 and the pattern of the game continued into the evening, West Indies bowlers throwing everything they could at England's well-set duo, finding precious little assistance from the surface and being comfortably rebuffed.
More than that, Root and Crawley were also managing to score that bit quicker and the latter raced into the 90s with back-to-back boundaries - the first slightly fortuitous as a thick edge sailed up and over the slips but the second was commanding, the ball cracked away past backward point to take him past 1,000 runs in Tests.
Crawley's big moment came in the 58th over as, for the umpteenth time in the innings, he flicked the ball through mid-wicket and got back for two to complete a thoroughly-deserved hundred.
Only 5.2 more overs were possible in the day before the rain arrived, in which time Seales turned to the short-ball ploy without success, and further reduced the chances of a positive result in the match.
Root will hope to complete his own century while England will still, no doubt, try to get themselves into a position to push to take the 10 wickets they will need to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
England opener Zak Crawley, speaking to BT Sport: "This innings is right up there, it was a really special feeling. I had a tough year last year and probably at times thought I wouldn't get this opportunity again, so I am delighted. I was pretty nervous in the nineties but [Joe Root] helped me a lot. He is probably the best batsman we have ever had.
"We are certainly going to try and win it tomorrow. We are going to give it a go."
David Gower, speaking to BT Sport: "It is going to be hard to force a win - look at the way the pitch has played for four days. It has done very little and I cannot promise you it is going to break up and turn square. If West Indies have 60 or 70 overs to bat, they are still capable of seeing that through even though they have not been in prime form of late."
