Law proud as Windies back from the brink

Coach has special praise for Brathwaite and Shai Hope after stunning knock against England

West Indies coach Stuart Law praised his side for the way they responded to their humiliating first Test defeat by England to level the series with a stunning five-wicket win at Headingley on Tuesday.

Shai Hope made hundreds in both innings, with opener Kraigg Brathwaite falling just five runs shy of the same feat, as the West Indies completed a remarkable victory on Tuesday’s fifth day to square the three-Test series at 1-1.

The win, West Indies’ first in a Test in England for 17 years, was all the more impressive as just over a week earlier they had been thrashed by an innings and 209 runs inside three days in the series opener at Edgbaston.

“What a five days,” Law told Sky Sports.

“After getting the kicking we did at Edgbaston, to get the boys back up to achieve what they’ve done these last five days, it’s a great effort — not just by the players themselves but all the support staff.

“I’m very proud of them, and of the two young guys who scored the runs,” added the former Australia batsman after the West Indies, set a seemingly stiff 322 to win, finished on 322 for five with 28 balls left.

The 23-year-old Hope had not scored a hundred in any of his previous 11 Test matches.

Yet his 118 not out on Tuesday, following his first-innings 147, saw the Barbados batsman become the first man to score two hundreds in a first-class match in 127 years of cricket at Headingley. “I said if he gets one [hundred], he’ll get plenty — well he got one and he’s got another,” said Law of Hope.

Law also had words of praise for the 24-year-old Brathwaite, saying: “He’s not the most fashionable-looking cricketer but he gets the job done and he’s one of my first picks every game.