Ton-up Crawley, Root put in England in charge of first Test

Zak Crawley's undefeated second Test century and a composed, unbeaten 84 by skipper Joe Root pushed England towards safety at 217 for one in their second innings on a rain-shortened fourth day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday.

Having trailed by 64 runs at the start of the innings, the tourists ended the day ahead by 153 and with nine wickets in hand.

SCORECARD | West Indies v England, first Test

They may entertain the thought of trying to force victory on the final day although the benign nature of the pitch suggests a tame draw is almost inevitable.

Crawley's 117 not out at the top of the order was an innings of undeniable quality though, whatever the conditions.

Upright and elegant, the right-hander's first three-figure Test knock for almost two years came off exactly 200 deliveries and was decorated by 16 fours.

His second-wicket partnership with Root has so far realised 193 runs with the captain looking completely at ease without being ultra-aggressive.

He seems destined to add to his tally of 23 Test hundreds via an innings that has so far occupied 158 deliveries in which he stroked six boundaries.

"Root's got such a calm head," said Crawley.

"He was telling me to just keep concentrating because they were bowling really well at times. He is such a calm individual and I took a lot from him during the course of the day."

Notwithstanding the nature of the pitch and expectation of a last-day stalemate, Crawley remains hopeful of some unexpected drama.

"It's definitely still a good wicket. It hasn't broken up as much as we thought it would," he acknowledged.

"But we're still hoping it's going to break up quite a bit tomorrow and give us a good chance of bowling them out."

When Crawley lost