HOLDER HAILS HIS HEROES AS WINDIES SHINE
ENGLAND suffered the agony of an historic fourwicket defeat as the West Indies celebrated the return of Test cricket in emphatic fashion. Not since 2007 have the Windies gone 1-0 up away from home and, against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the Black Lives Matter movement, this was a win for the ages. Either side could have triumphed on the last day with a target of 200 on the board and there can be no doubting the efforts put in by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to fire England home at the Ageas Bowl. But guided by a stunning knock of 95 from Jermaine Blackwood, who took his team from 27-3 to 189-6 before he was caught at mid-off. Windies skipper Jason Holder said: “It was one of the best wins I’ve ever been involved in. Day four was probably the
BY DEAN WILSON best day I’ve ever had in Test cricket. It was hardfought, everything I asked of the guys they gave me, it was a real team effort.”
Ben Stokes and his side will be cursing their own mistakes that let the Windies off the hook.
Blackwood should have been caught down the legside by Jos Buttler when he had made just 20 but the England gloveman could not react quickly enough and dropped the straightforward chance.
The next chance arrived when Zak Crawley could have thrown to either end for a run out but failed to pick up the ball.
Blackwood then edged Stokes to Rory Burns in the gully at catchable height only to grab at thin air. Three missed chances in half an hour cost them.
Holder was brave to hold back his bowling in the warm-up then deliver in the Test while man-ofthe-match Shannon Gabriel took nine wickets and put his sore body on the line.