West Indies vs England: James Anderson rattles Windies in final session fightback

West Indies (264-8) vs England: Anderson's unquenchable hunger saw England produce a rousing comeback but, with the match tantalisingly poised, the real hard work only starts here

Finally, as shadows engulfed the Kensington Oval late on day one, England bit back hard. Having looked bereft for large parts of the day, Joe Root’s side produced a stirring comeback to take four late West Indian wickets and haul themselves back into contention in the first Test. It was a testament not just to their stamina but their character, in particular the unquenchable hunger of James Anderson with the second new ball. And yet, with the match tantalisingly poised and the pitch already starting to misbehave, you could argue the real hard work starts here.

For despite England’s evening salvo, it remains honours even, just about. Since the start of the current decade, Barbados has been the world’s lowest-scoring Test ground in terms of runs per wicket. No team has passed 400 here in the last 22 innings, which is why a score of 300 will generally put you in the driving seat, and why it was such a good toss for the West Indies to win.

And while this appears a flatter, slower surface than many Barbados tracks of the past, the bounce is already more variable than your average day-one pitch, as Shane Dowrich and Kemar Roach discovered late on when they were dismissed by late spitters from Anderson and Ben Stokes. The best batting conditions of the match may already have come and gone.

During them, the West Indies batted with focus, maturity and an extremely clear idea of what they wanted to do. They saw off the threat of Anderson and Sam Curran with the new ball, made a concerted effort to attack the spin of Moeen Ali, and then cashed in after tea against the ageing ball. Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer were able to cut loose in an extended final session, and despite the late crash of wickets, the exciting Hetmyer remains armed and extremely dangerous.

Perhaps the main frustration for the home side was that despite all but one of their batsmen passing 40, none went past 60. Hetmyer, the exceptionally talented Guyanese left-hander, may well see to that on Thursday. Batting without a helmet against the spinners, and reaching his half-century in 52 balls, the 22-year-old showed just why Indian Premier League franchises were vying for his signature in the recent auction.

Ben Stokes starred alongside Anderson (Reuters)

For England, a quietly satisfactory day, even if not all the parts of the machine appear to be at full power just yet. Anderson and Stokes were the two stand-out bowlers on a day that called for patience and nous. England made a big call in leaving out Stuart Broad for Curran and Adil Rashid, and although Moeen took the opening wicket of the day, the debutant John Campbell, the spinners’ combined figures of 1-125 off 34 overs suggested it wasn’t exactly the call of the century. There was turn, but it was slow turn, turn that sat up to be hit, and the fact that the West Indies left out their primary spinner Jomel Warrican should have been an indication that seam was a more reliable option.

Still, it was Moeen who broke the deadlock after a swift start by the Jamaican left-hander Campbell, who raced to 44 before going for one sweep too many. Kraigg Brathwaite, having scored just five runs in the first hour, began to open his shoulders after lunch, accompanied by the languorous Shai Hope, and at 126-1 the West Indies were threatening to compile a dominant total.

Stuart Broad was dropped as England opted to instead play two spinners (Getty)

Enter Stokes, who took charge with a superb spell either side of tea, flogging the ball into the pitch like a man trying to get the last juice out of a dying remote control. First Brathwaite’s three-hour vigil was undone by a little extra bounce and a thin edge to Root at slip. Then in his next over, Darren Bravo was trapped by a full, swinging yorker in his comeback Test. Having breezed past 50, Hope’s confidence just got the better of him, playing a lazy waft-cut to Anderson and getting a thin inside edge. It was Anderson’s first Test wicket in 342 balls, and he wasn’t done.

Now came the counter-attack. Chase and Hetmyer put on a quick 66, Hetmyer swiping sixes off both of England’s spinners, forcing Root himself into the attack. It took the arrival of the second new ball for Anderson to reassert some control of proceedings, teasing Chase with the outswinger before finding his outside edge.

Dowrich lobbed an aborted pull to slip, captain Jason Holder spooned a return catch to Anderson and in the last over of the day Stokes capped England’s fightback by getting Roach caught, Root’s third catch of the day. But Hetmyer continued to attack to stumps, and perhaps in retrospect the key moment of the game may prove to be Jos Buttler’s sharp dropped catch off him early in his innings. It was a tough sprawling chance at cover, but this is a team of big dreams and high standards. And when you’re chasing the prizes England are this year, the margins are exactly that fine.