.
Shanon Gabriel was adjudged Man of the Match for his 9 wickets
It was the West Indies bowlers who set up the match in the first innings only by bowling them out cheaply for 204. They were ably led by their captain, Jason Holder, who claimed his career best figures of 6-42. Then it was their batsmen’s turn to consolidate their position in the match by getting ahead of England’s score by 114 runs, thanks to handy contributions from Brathwaite, Chase and Dowrich. Like Holder, Stokes also led from the front by picking up 4 wickets. In their second essay, the English batters, especially Burns, Sibley and Crawley showed a lot more resolute effort and intent to get ahead in the game. Just when it seemed
they were gaining control of the match, Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph hit back late on day 4 with a flurry of wickets to level their position in the match. On the last day, a gettable of 200 was in front of the West Indies with almost the whole day remaining. But having been reduced to 27-3 (effectively 27-4 with Campbell retired hurt), the target seemed like a distant one. But Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood had other ideas. They applied themselves slowly started to take the game away from the hosts. Although Blackwood threw his wicket away on 95, he had done his job with only 11 runs remaining to win the match, and Campbell came back to do the formalities.
So, all in all a great game of cricket, a wonderful return of the game, a nail-biting one for the spectators at home, hopefully one of many more to come.