England will begin Day 2 of the second Test match, at the Kensington Oval, Barbados on 244/3, having had much the better of the first day.
As expected, the West Indies went into the match with the same side that played the first Test match, in Antigua. England made two changes, one forced, one voluntary. Mark Wood was ruled out of the match with the elbow injury he picked up in Antigua, while Craig Overton was dropped. They drafted in the uncapped pair of Matt Fisher and Saqib Mahmood.
England captain Joe Root won the toss and decided to bat. They lost Zak Crawley early, but Root and Alex Lees gradually built the innings. It was hard work on a slow pitch against accurate bowling, one feature of which was the very low number of extras. The pair added 76 more until Lees was caught in front of his stumps by Veerasammy Permaul for 30.
Root, meanwhile, enjoyed several lives. He might have been given out on 23, but West Indies side refused to review it. He was then dropped on 30.
But, with Dan Lawrence switching gear, the scoring rate finally began to pick up in the evening session. Root, too, got to his 25th Test century, and will resume Day 2 on 119. Lawrence was in sight of his maiden Test ton when, off the penultimate ball of the day, he chipped Jason Holder to extra cover and was caught for 91.
Root will hope for England to bat for most of Day 2 and build a big first-innings score. However, with no pace on the pitch, the scoring rate will remain pedestrian.
For their part, the West Indies will be looking for early wickets, and will be hoping to restrict the tourists to a reasonable total.
At some stage later in the day England will get their chance to bowl, and it was be the first chance to gauge whether Mahmood and Fisher might have any future at international level.
Fantasy tips
- Pick Root. When he gets runs, he gets them big.
- Stokes and Holder are likely to both bat and bowl today.
- Bairstow may get batting as well as wicketkeeping points.