Da Silva shines as West Indies fight back to edge into lead over England
England were handed a taste of their own medicine on day two of their winner-takes-all third Test in Grenada, with the West Indies moving into the lead after a bullish lowerorder fightback.
Having seen Jack Leach and Saqib Mahmood redeem their own batting collapse with a last-ditchstandworth90onthe firstevening,thetouristshadno response for a similar show of resistance led by Josh Da Silva. The Trinidadian wicketkeeper came to the crease on 95 for six, with a briefly revitalised Chris Woakes having conjured a three-wicket burst just after lunch,butshowedrealfortitude to lead his side to 232 for eight.
Over the course of his battling 54 not out Da Silva was there to see his side past three figures, beyond 200 and into an eventual lead of 28, all before posting the first halfcentury of a low-scoring match. With stands of 49 with Alzarri Joseph and an unbroken 55 with Kemar Roach, he may yet have played a decisive hand.
The day began with Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell batting serenely for an hour, putting on 50 in a carefree 99 balls, before Ben Stokes finally landed a blow.
Wincing in discomfort as he pieced together a searching four-over burst with a heavilystrapped knee, he got his final ball to shoot through low and trap Brathwaite lbw for 17.
Mahmood took over from Stokes and was soon profiting
from the same low bounce, scuttling one through at shin height to leave Shamarh Brooks plumb.
England seamer Craig Overton was not bowling at lightning pace, hovering in the low 80mph region, but his height was unsettling Campbell and it was no surprise to see him glove one through to the wicketkeeper just before the break for 35.
Things were roughly even at 71 for three, but Woakes
turned the screw for England early in the afternoon with a double-wicket maiden.
A cross-seam delivery driven into the pitch left Nkrumah Bonner in a tangle, taking evasive action while leaving his bat and gloves in the danger area to give Ben Foakes a comfortable catch. Three balls later he picked up Jason Holder for his third careless dismissal in a row.
Suckered into a pull despite having men on the ropes, he
top-edged to the waiting Jonny Bairstow. The skittish Jermaine Blackwood was close behind, Woakes winning a tight lbw to leave the Windies 95 for six.
Kyle Mayers eased some of those concerns with a characterful knock from number seven but just as he looked ready to turn his breezy 33 into something more substantial he chipped a grateful Stokes to mid-on.
Da Silva came out with a mis
sion to wear England down, blocking where possible and rotating the strike carefully.
Joseph played a few more shots for 28 and eventually paid the price when he backed away to leg and was caught behind off Overton, but Roach was ready to step in. Da Silva started expressing himself more and runs came in a hurry in the closing stages, with the wicketkeeper well worth his fifty after 143 balls at the crease.