The opening delivery of the Test saw Chris Woakes bowling to Kraigg Brathwaite. It landed slightly short, and the West Indies captain nudged it into the ground and took off for a run. For a brief moment, it seemed a tad ambitious—however, by the time Woakes adjusted his follow-through to field the ball, both he and the batsmen recognized the risk paid off. Could this be an indication that the West Indies, having won the toss, were determined to take the initiative?
Mikyle Louis, Brathwaite’s opening partner, offered an uncertain bat at the first ball he faced, while the last four deliveries of Woakes’ over went unchallenged, taking him 22 balls to score his first run. Perhaps not.
Throughout the series, there have been instances where Brathwaite seemed more like a drag on the team than a leader, and the opening hour of this match was one such occasion. Louis eventually scored 26, maintaining his streak as a Test player with no innings below 14 and none exceeding 27, marking this as one of his less impressive similar scores.
Nonetheless, the opening partnership of 76 turned out to be the most productive of the series so far for either side, with the captain registering his first half-century in a year after narrowly missing out by two and three runs at Trent Bridge last week.
The role of Test captaincy can be a lonely one, especially when you’re at the helm of a struggling batting lineup. In their first innings at Nottingham, the West Indies showcased two remarkable middle- to lower-order partnerships that lifted their total to a competitive score and provided a glimmer of hope that all isn’t lost when early wickets fall. However, a recurring pattern continued: Brathwaite’s dismissal often leads to a cascade of others.
In the team’s five innings so far this series, the number of runs scored following the 31-year-old’s exit before the subsequent wicket fell has been two, five, six, one, and none. His departure often equates to a double dismissal, and that’s on a good day; on a bad day, it triggers a complete meltdown.
If such a fate was avoided in this encounter, it was due to the emergence of a second captain’s innings.
Since stepping down after five years at the end of 2020, Jason Holder seems to be relishing the flexibility this change has afforded him: over the past year, he has chosen to skip both a central contract and a Test tour of Australia. However, he hasn’t regularly contributed with the bat, this being only his third half-century in three years.
“I haven’t been overly concerned about my form,” he reflected. “I feel I’ve been getting starts but the challenge is to carry on. It’s just a matter of digging deeper. My journey has been quite inconsistent over the last year and a half in terms of the number of Tests I have played, and I take it as it comes. I am not focused on milestones, but rather on fostering a positive culture within the group to improve. Our aim should be to keep moving upwards, which is my main focus currently.”
At 115 for four, the West Indies found themselves in a bleak yet all-too-familiar spot. At that juncture, Holder had faced just one delivery without scoring, but with Joshua Da Silva, he set out to stabilize the innings. Initially, it was hard work: it took him 11 balls to notch his first run, and 18 balls to record his third. Da Silva, who rebounded impressively after a poor outing at Lord’s, settled into his innings more quickly.
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Then England introduced Shoaib Bashir to the attack, and Holder began to accelerate. He sent the spinner over mid-on for a four and followed with a six down the ground; he deftly pulled Mark Wood, anticipating the short ball and sending it through midwicket. However, shortly after reaching his half-century, he lost not only his batting partner but also his rhythm—between the 61st and 68th over, he faced seven balls of the 44 bowled, before witnessing Da Silva edge a catch to Jamie Smith off Woakes, followed soon after by Holder’s own departure, as Gus Atkinson found some away swing and knocked over his off stump for 59.
In the first two matches of this series, the West Indies have managed to produce one innings surpassing 400 runs—a total that can win a Test match—and three innings that combined yield a mere 400, a sum usually indicative of defeat. This time, however, their current and former captains collaborated to establish a somewhat defendable score, instilling Brathwaite with confidence that there exists character and quality among his teammates.
Now, they simply need to replicate this performance. “Tomorrow presents another challenge, and I’m genuinely looking forward to it,” noted Holder. “I’m confident that everyone in the dressing room shares this enthusiasm.”
