Kavem Hodge’s maiden Test century helped the West Indies mount a fightback with the bat against England on day two at Trent Bridge in the second match of this series as they trail by 65 runs.
Bowling without their record Test wicket-taker James Anderson for the first time since his retirement, England left the West Indies three wickets down at lunch in reply to the hosts’ 416 all out on day one, as off-spinner Shoaib Bashir struck twice.
Alick Athanaze and Hodge dug in during the afternoon session though, guiding their side to 212-3 at tea on route to putting on a stand of 175 for the fourth wicket before England captain Ben Stokes removed the former for 82 six overs after the resumption of play.
Hodge, who was dropped on 16 by Joe Root, was eventually out for 120 deep into the evening session as the West Indies reached 351-5 at the close, and will resume on day three trailing the hosts by 65 runs.
Bashir puts West Indies in a spin
Faced with excellent conditions for batting and the pitch offering very little to the England bowlers in terms of swing with the new ball, West Indies openers Brathwaite and Louis made a steady start in reply to the home side’s 416 all out.
Having successfully seen off opening bowlers Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson in the first 10 overs of the morning though, they were soon faced with the extreme pace of Mark Wood, returning to the team after missing the first Test at Lord’s.
The Durham bowler soon had the previously subdued Trent Bridge crowd roaring with his fiery first over which went down as the quickest anyone had ever bowled in England since records began being recorded 18 years ago and went even faster than that in his second.
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Yet it was the spin of Bashir which eventually proved the partnership breaker though, with Louis deciding to take on the right-armer but only succeeding in skying the ball and departed for 21 after being caught around long on by the backpedalling Harry Brook.
It marked the 20-year-old’s first Test wicket in England, and he should really have had his second two overs later when new batter Kirk McKenzie was given not out on an lbw appeal and the hosts opted not to go to DRS despite replays suggesting the on-field call would have been overturned.
Bashir did eventually account for the left-hander with under 10 minutes to go until lunch though when McKenzie (11) airily played an awful shot straight to Ben Stokes at mid-on, leaving the West Indies 89-3 after the day’s first session.
Dominican duo make England’s bowlers toil
Athanaze and Hodge steadied the ship in the first half of the afternoon, with the former taking their fourth-wicket partnership past 50 in the 40th over with a well-timed shot through midwicket for four at the start of Wood’s second spell.
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Hodge had two let-offs from England’s pace ace, the first coming in the 42nd over when he was dropped by Joe Root in the slips after edging a 94mph delivery and the second two overs later when he top-edged an attempt at a pull which flew just beyond the grasp of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith for four.
Left-hander Athanaze, who already had two one-day international 50s to his name, then reached the half-century mark for the first time in Tests in the 47th over and that was followed by Hodge making his second two overs later, doing so by steering Atkinson away for four.
The Dominican duo took their partnership past the century mark before tea and six from Athanaze off Bashir over midwicket in the penultimate over of the afternoon session underlined the dominance the West Indies were exerting on England’s bowlers.
The 25-year-old’s resistance was finally ended on a career-highest Test score when he edged Stokes to Brook at gully in the 62nd over, but four overs later Hodge would go on to reach his milestone century off the same bowler, driving the ball down through long-off for four and punching the air in delight.
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Woakes eventually trapped the right-hander lbw in the 75th over, with Hodge failing on a DRS review, but the following over Wood was forced to leave the field after just one ball for treatment and finished the day 0-51 from 14.1 overs despite his monumental efforts.
England took the new ball for the final over of the day in an effort to grab another wicket, but Jason Holder (23no) and Joshua Da Silva (32no) calmly saw the West Indies through to the close without further loss.
England’s Test series vs West Indies
Watch day three of the second Test between England and West Indies, from Trent Bridge in Nottingham, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.15am on Saturday (first ball to be bowled at 11am).
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