NORTH SOUND, Antigua (CMC)
All-rounder Jason Holder believes West Indies’ use of the second new ball on today’s second day will be key in limiting England.
The touring side ended day one of the first Test at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium on 268 for six, thanks to Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 109 – his eighth Test hundred but first against the hosts.
Bairstow was involved in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 54 with all-rounder Chris Woakes (24 not out), which ensured England finished the day strongly after they tottered on 48 for four before lunch.
West Indies took the new ball after 80 overs but are yet to reap any success in six overs.
“I think it’s a new-ball wicket. When the ball is a lot harder, it’s obviously doing a lot more through the air,” Holder said.
“Today, the ball got soft, really, really quickly. To me it was out of shape. It kept going in and out in terms of the shape but it was hard work as the day went on.
PARTNERSHIP
“Credit to England, I thought they played really well. That partnership with (Ben) Foakes and Bairstow, I think really flattened us in the afternoon session.
“But having said that, I think our bowlers really put their hands up and gave a really good effort so I think tomorrow, the name of the game is just to come tight and obviously make the second new ball count.
“I think if we can dismiss Jonny quite early in the morning, then we can make early inroads into the tail and finish off the innings as quickly as possible.”
England recovered well thanks to Bairstow’s enterprise, the right-hander anchoring three successive half-century stands to deflate West Indies.
He put on 67 for the fifth wicket with Ben Stokes (36), 99 for the sixth wicket with Foakes (42) before combining with Woakes to further hurt West Indies in the final hour.
“I thought the wicket quietened down a lot. It got very, very slow and the ball got soft as well too, so not too much was happening in terms of movement off the surface and through the air,” said Holder, who claimed two for 15 from 16 miserly overs.
OVERLY CRITICAL
“If I’m being overly critical, I think we can just bring down the boundary count. They probably scored quite a few boundaries – a bit more than we would’ve wanted.”
He added: “Tomorrow morning I think we’ve just got to bring that energy – that’s something I’ve really been driving.
“Once we bring that energy I’m sure we’ll get those last four wickets for as little runs as possible and when we get our chance to bat, let the new ball go past as much as possible, get a good sighter and really set ourselves up for something really, really big.”
Twenty-year-old Jayden Seales picked up two for 64 while veteran seamer Kemar Roach ended with two for 71.