Wednesday 30 January 2019 13:16, UK
A thrilling first Test match between Windies and England was dominated by the hosts' bowling attack, a breathtaking double century for Jason Holder and yet another collapse from the tourists.
Joe Root lost his first toss in nine Tests after England made a big call to leave out Stuart Broad, instead opting to play two spinners and an extra all-rounder in Sam Curran.
Although James Anderson equalled Sir Ian Botham's Test record of 27 five-wicket hauls to help England restrict the hosts to 289 in their first innings, the tourists were plagued by an-all-too common batting collapse before Holder and Shane Dowrich's unbroken 285-run, seventh-wicket, second-innings stand left Root's side ground into the Barbadian dust.
Away from home an England batting collapse, at times, seems an inevitability, and on day two none of the batsmen were able to halt the slump that took hold of the line-up.
As the Windies' pace attack steamed in after lunch on the second day, the visitors lost 9-42 in just 18.3 overs, with five of their batsmen dismissed for four or less.
It is not the first time Root's side have found themselves blown away in the first innings of a Test away from home, with a Trent Boult-inspired New Zealand sweeping them aside for only 58 in March 2018.
With Keaton Jennings and Rory Burns still attempting to secure their positions as openers, Jonny Bairstow moulding himself into a No 3 and the team being all-rounder heavy, England appear to remain uncertain of their best batting line-up.
With most people expecting Windies to suffer a 3-0 whitewash, Holder had a big task on his hands, and he showed he was more than up to the task with both ball and bat.
After picking up two important wickets during England's miserable 77 all out - including that of fellow captain Root - Holder struck a sensational unbeaten double century as the away side's bowlers failed to find any answers to his counter-attacking punch.
The 27-year-old smashed eight sixes, the joint-most in a Test innings, while sharing a crucial partnership with Dowrich to dig Windies out of their own slump.
They batted England out of the match and also ensured Anderson and Ben Stokes were left highly fatigued during a period of back-to-back red-ball games.
Ahead of the Test match, Michael Atherton looked around the Three Ws Stadium, which is named after Windies greats Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott.
The ground, where England played their two warm-up games, has a lectern with some of Worrell's - the West Indies' first black captain, most famous quotes, and it is also his resting place.
There are also plaques for every century scored and five-wicket haul taken by Windies cricketers, while the ground has ends named after two more former players in Malcolm Marshall and Sir Garfield Sobers.
Eyebrows were raised when a Broad-less team was announced at the toss, with the Kensington Oval known to be seamer friendly, as England opted to play two spinners instead.
Curran shared the new ball with Anderson, but the visitors clearly missed their usual opening pairing - something highlighted by the Lancashire bowler's second scalp of the innings bringing up a combined 1,000 Test wickets for himself and Broad.
Despite clearly being one seam bowler short, Root was adamant post-match that the team would continue to make bold team selections in order to find ways to win Test matches away from home.
With the chances of chasing down 628 for victory all but none, England's second innings was a chance for their batsmen to atone for their first innings' misgivings and spend time out in the middle acclimatising.
Burns and Jennings shared a promising 85-run first-wicket partnership, with the Surrey opener reaching his half-century off 79 balls before his team-mate was guilty of playing a loose shot as he was caught at slip.
With a series of elegant drives and slick cuts, Burns looked the part before being bowled on the stroke of lunch for an impressive 84. Although England went on to lose 6-31 during another middle and lower-order collapse, Burns showed signs of having a bright future.
Watch day one of the second Test between Windies and England, in Antigua, live on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404) and Main Event (channel 401) from 1.30pm on Thursday. You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
