‘We felt like their heads went down really quickly’
England wanted to “bury” West Indies as they sensed them losing hope as Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes set up an attacking declaration by captain Joe Root.
Moeen paid tribute to Dawid Malan for his painstaking innings which took the wind out of West Indies’ fast bowlers allowing the all-rounders to play their free scoring game down the order.
“We feel like it was a fantastic innings,” Moeen said. “The way he played he probably felt like he struggled a little bit but it’s a massive knock. Everybody else gets the accolades but that knock is crucial.” West Indies’ body language betrayed their sense of hopelessness as England counter-attacked and turned a close Test their way.
“We felt like their heads went down after tea really quickly,” Moeen said. “We were trying to keep going and bury them and make them suffer by keeping them in the field. Their bowlers were getting tired, they were a bit down as a side and we tried to capitalise on that.” Only four times have England overturned a bigger first-innings deficit than the 169 they conceded here but they have 90 overs to win the series. “We were behind the eight ball so are delighted to be in this position and have an opportunity to win,” said Woakes. “It is still a half-decent pitch, it may deteriorate on day five with variable bounce and spin. But if we stay patient hopefully we can get over the line.”
West Indies remain defiant. “I can remember when you declared in 1984 and gave us 340 to chase and we got it with one wicket,” said bowling coach Roddy Estwick, referring to when Gordon Greenidge got a double hundred as West Indies chased 344 to win at Lord’s.