Brathwaite ton stiffens West Indies' resolve
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Dobell: Brathwaite breathes life into WI Test future
An unbeaten hundred from Kraigg Brathwaite was the lodestone of West Indies’ second-innings efforts to defy England in Grenada. As the National Stadium basked in sunlight, Brathwaite summoned his first significant contribution of the series to bind together a resolute reply, after England had taken a 165-run lead and early impetus in their attempts to force a victory.A second-wicket stand of 142 between Braithwaite and Darren Bravo tempered England’s expectations after they had removed Devon Smith in the third over. Bravo also passed 50, showing greater patience than in the first Test, until England succeeded with a plan to bowl doggedly into the rough outside off stump. James Anderson and Stuart Broad took the wickets but England’s attack otherwise worked hard for little reward.Brathwaite, 22, has made each of his four Test hundreds within the last 12 months and his relish for long innings was again in evidence. Twice he flashed Ben Stokes behind gully, to the allrounder’s noticeable chagrin, and he survived a review for lbw against Chris Jordan thanks to an inside edge. Otherwise, there was little for England to exploit.Eight of Brathwaite’s 11 boundaries whistled away through the area from point round to third man and he was equal to England’s attempts to have him caught at short leg, as in the second innings in Antigua.During the evening session, he spent 26 balls on 69, as well as playing out six maidens against Joe Root. England attempted to delay him through the 90s, as well, but Brathwaite was unperturbed and inched to three figures in the penultimate over of the day, having faced 228 balls. It made him the fourth West Indies centurion in four innings against England.The morning session passed in a blur, as Root made his second-highest Test score and England lost their last four wickets to be dismissed for 464. The wicket of Smith before lunch sharpened England’s ambitions of taking a 1-0 lead in the series but, as Brathwaite and Bravo dug in during the afternoon, the pace of the match reverted to something more in keeping with life in the Caribbean. It was the first time in the series that West Indies had gone through a full session without losing a wicket.England took a considerable first-innings advantage largely thanks to Root, who made an unbeaten 182. He provided the thrust as England added 91 to their overnight total, before Anderson struck in his second over – Smith becoming the latest player to deflect the ball on to his own stumps while attempting to leave.The game was moving on, which increased the pressure on West Indies’ batsmen, who faced the prospect of having to bat another four sessions, as they had done to draw the Antigua Test. Neither Brathwaite nor Bravo contributed significantly to that rearguard but they made England wait 48 overs for the second wicket this time. With the pitch remaining true, West Indies will feel they have already gone a good way to picking a path to safety; by the close, they had a small lead.Kraigg Brathwaite recorded his fourth Test hundred as West Indies replied strongly•Getty Images
England, despite building another dominant position, were hampered by time lost earlier in the match, though once again their attack did not look penetrative enough to break down determined sides in benign conditions.England might have started the day hopeful of a total beyond 500 but that prospect became more remote when Jos Buttler fell early. Root took it upon himself to score the majority of the 77 added for the last three wickets and in the process he extended his innings past 150 – the fourth time he has done so from six Test centuries (and one of the others was an unbeaten 149).Batting in long sleeves having finished the third day wearing a cap, Root was again busy from the outset, sprinkling judicious boundaries among scampered ones and twos. He seems to be a source of renewable energy, the kind governments around the world are devoting technology and finance to discover; clean, too, apart from when he is chirping at the opposition from under a helmet at short leg.When he had made 126, Root reached 2000 runs in Tests, the second-youngest England batsman to do so behind Alastair Cook. With just the No. 11, Anderson, for company, he struck Bishoo for sixes down the ground and over midwicket and was pushing on towards a second career double-hundred when a third run-out finished the innings. Anderson’s absent-minded failure to run his bat in left Root wondering what had occurred and swiping his own bat in frustration. His thirst for runs cannot be slaked.England resumed six down and 74 runs ahead, with the expectation that it would be Buttler to get the scorer’s pencil scratching. He managed one boundary, thumping Devendra Bishoo down the ground, but fell to the legspinner’s next ball, lured out of his crease and this time beaten by a delivery that dipped short of him and spun past the bat for a simple stumping.That meant England had lost 4 for 58 at a time when they would have anticipated the cavalry at Nos. 6, 7 and 8 scattering the opposition bowling to all parts. Jordan looked in more adhesive mood, helping to add 39 for the eighth wicket before being run out by Root’s enthusiasm. Root steered the ball to deep backward point and intimated he wanted a second; Jordan obliged only to be sent back. It was one of the few moments in the day when Root, who also bowled 13 overs and threw himself around in the field, shirked a challenge.