A stirring century from Joe Root, his 25th of his Test career, helped England close Day 1 against the West Indies at Kensington Oval on 244/3. West Indies, however, would be content with the fact that they managed to get rid of Dan Lawrence (91) with the last ball of the day.
It was not an easy morning session for England. They lost Zak Crawley, the centurion of the first Test match, for a seven-ball duck. Crawley's indecision against a ball pitched outside off stump led to his dismissal.
Alex Lees and Root then endured a tricky passage of play, where runs were hard to come by. However, the surface offered little to the fast bowlers. England's score at lunch – 47/1 – did not necessarily reflect how flat and placid the Barbados surface. They then lost Lees, trapped leg-before by Veerasammy Permaul for 30, within an hour of the second session.
Lawrence's spirited knock helped compensate for England's initial sluggishness. They brought up 89 in the second session and 108 in the last. He punished the bowlers whenever they erred, and also struck the only six off the day, off Permaul early in the innings.
Root, meanwhile, never look perturbed, though his innings was not quite spotless. When on 23, he was pinned on the front leg by Holder, but the West Indies decided not to challenge the on-field umpire's decision. And just after lunch, his edge fell to Joshua Da Silva, who was unable to grab. He will resume at 119 on Day 2.
England 244/3 (Joe Root 119*; Jayden Seales 1-30) vs West Indies.