Bravo celebrates after scoring his half-century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
West Indies batsman Darren Bravo scored 82 to not only help his side beat England by five wickets, but also end the series as a 1-1 draw.
Bravo was well supported by Jermaine Blackwood, who made an unbeaten 47.
Starting out the day on 39/5, England’s lower order failed to make any major contributions and they were eventually bowled out for 123, which set the West Indies a target of 192 to win.
Jerome Taylor, Jason Holder, Veerasammy Permaul took three wickets apiece, while Shannon Gabriel chipped in with one.
Chasing 192 to win, the West Indies got off to a horrible start and subsequently found themselves struggling at 80/4.
However, Bravo and Blackwood stabilised the innings with a 108-run partnership, during which Bravo brought up his half-century, before he was caught by Stuart Broad at mid-off off the bowling of Ben Stokes.
Bravo’s excellent knock of 82 came off 148 balls and included seven boundaries and three sixes.
Blackwood and captain Denesh Ramdin mopped up the remaining runs to lead the West Indies to victory.
Blackwood finished on 47 off 104 deliveries, which included four boundaries and a six, while Ramdin didn’t score a single run.
Blackwood hit four boundaries and a six during his unbeaten knock of 47
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Broad, Stokes, Chris Jordan, James Anderson and Moeen Ali claimed one wicket each.
England captain Alastair Cook was disappointed to have lost, and said: “We came here after Grenada with the opportunity to do it, played a lot of good cricket in the first day and a half. It’s a bit of both, 250 wasn’t enough, probably 300 was par, and then obviously 120 was disappointing. We have to take it on the chin, credit to West Indies, they bowled well and put us under pressure.
“When you’re defending 190 you need to take your chances, even 80 for 4 we had them under pressure. The bottom line is we haven’t done enough to win the series. Every series we play we try to win, we’ll take it on the chin. The support we’ve had in Antigua, Grenada and Barbados has been fantastic. I can’t fault the lads but the last 20 overs we weren’t good enough. The squad will talk about things but we need to go and deliver.”
Ramdin was delighted that the series ended as a 1-1 draw, and said: “It was a quite tricky one, but it turned out well for us. Batters didn’t quite do as we wanted in the first innings but young Bravo and Blackwood came out for us today. We needed to get wickets in the second innings and those five wickets [on day two] put us in a commanding position. We played some good cricket, the bowling line-up was a good one, we let it slip in Grenada but I’m really glad we beat them today. [Performances from young players] Young blood, Shai Hope as well, sure he will go from strength to strength.”
Blackwood was named Man of the Match, and said: “I always try to play my natural game, adapt to the situation. The way I get out sometimes is playing my natural game, so I’m not really worried. [First innings] Definitely, tried go out there and play my shots and it came out very well. I saw Bravo, he said stay positive and we’ll get there, we did that, so well played to him as well. Each Test series I’m learning so it’s good for me.”
Anderson was named Man of the Series, and said: “Definitely, played some good cricket and to get a first-innings lead, we thought we were in a good position. There were periods when we thought we were in with a chance but Bravo and Blackwood played very well. We’ve played well, I fell like I’ve bowled well and contributed, so very disappointed we didn’t get over the line. [Breaking Botham’s record] I’ve had a purple patch since then and a bit of luck. It might be my last time to come here, if we have to wait another six years, but we’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”