Resilient Kraigg Brathwaite sets England tough task to win second Test

Having spent the best part of two days in the dirt watching Kraigg Brathwaite chalk up the third longest innings by a West Indian after Brian Lara’s two world records, it is over to England’s batters to see whether they can somehow advance this second Test and force an unlikely win on the final day.

The tourists will resume first thing on 40 for no loss and a lead of 136 runs, West Indies having finally been bowled out for 411 from 187.5 overs after tea in reply to 507 for nine declared. Brathwaite led the way for the hosts, not just turning his overnight 109 into 160 but also putting miles into the legs of his opponents.

Brathwaite had also refreshed his own attack but inducing some late panic was never going to easy on this surface. Though one scare followed when Zak Crawley reviewed an lbw decision on two, pinned in front by Kemar Roach only for Hawk-Eye to show it was missing leg stump by a whisker, he and Alex Lees survived 15 overs and will resume a possible charge for quick runs first thing.

“Pressure can do funny things,” replied Saqib Mahmood, fresh from figures of two for 58 from 27 overs on debut, when asked if England can claim 10 wickets on day five. “I’ve got my head around putting the bowling boots back on. It’s been hard work so far but that is why we play the game.”

It had been a serious slog just to get to this point, with only Lara’s scores of 375 (766 mins) in 1994 and 400 not out (778) 10 years on longer than Brathwaite’s 710-minute innings among Caribbean epics. “This was the first time my mother has watched me play,” revealed the Barbadian right-hander. “Scoring runs is always a great feeling and I’m very happy to get a hundred at home.”

The soft-spoken West Indies captain prefers the road less