Root ton leads the late, late batting show
JOE ROOT finally put his stamp on an otherwise horror tour with his fifth Test ton as England skipper to move his side steadily towards a Caribbean consolation.
Root’s 111 not out, together with half-centuries by Joe Denly and Jos Buttler, took England to their highest total of the series at the last attempt, closing a third good day out of three on 325-4, a lead of 448.
And for Denly his maiden Test 50 was a valiant last-ditch attempt to be considered as one of the top order men for the summer.
With Root reaching his 16th Test hundred and Buttler scoring a ninth 50 since his recall last year it meant that England’s three, four and five all made 56 or more, which is the sort of scorecard you would expect from a well oiled Test team.
The truth, though, is somewhat short of that with England’s batsmen taking advantage of a day when things were very much in their favour. And how much store will be put on Denly’s 69 in a dead rubber with England 2-0 down in this three-match series, the Windies bowling attack depleted and after enjoying the most charmed of second lives, remains to be seen. In just his second Test Denly will be delighted to have made a contribution but unfortunately for the 32-year-old his knock did not quite make as emphatic a statement as 150 would have done, especially since he got himself out. Throwing his hands at a wide one from Shannon Gabriel he fell in exactly the same way he did in his first Test innings in Antigua and it did not look great, especially as he told himself off for playing the shot the ball before.
He should have gone when he had made just 12 when a Gabriel thunderbolt took the shoulder of the bat to slip, but the simple catch was put down by Shimron Hetmyer.
Earlier in the same over Denly drove a ball to the cover ropes and, while chasing, Keemo Paul tore his right quad and was carried off on a stretcher, leaving him unable to stand much less bowl.
It meant that the Windies were forced to turn to their ineffective spinners much more than they would have liked.
Denly, though, did show some classy strokeplay during his 99-ball innings, but there is enough doubt to suggest that he will have to start the summer off well to be given another go.
Unfortunately the same does not quite apply to Keaton Jennings, who made 23 before being bowled unluckily by Alzarri Joseph with a ball that was missing the leg stump but flicked his trousers on the way past and deviated on to the stumps.
It was a rotten bit of luck for another man playing for his career, but fundamentally his contribution of 62 runs at an average of 15 is not good enough.
Buttler played pretty well for his second 50 of the match while Gabriel did his best to engage in a verbal confrontation with Ben Stokes, who finished on 29 not out. The England man prefers to smile rather than talk back these days.