Veteran all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite was a tad agitated after Joe Root decided to extend England’s opening Test against the West Indies until five balls were left. Root smashed a ton and helped the Brits set the Caribbean team a target of 286 to chase down. Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell looked set in the middle, having stitched together a partnership of 59 in 25.1 overs.
But the hosts lost four wickets for eight runs and were reduced to 67 for four. While Ben Stokes picked up the first wicket of skipper Brathwaite, Jack Leach sent back Campbell, Shamarh Brooks and Jermaine Blackwood. The game was in the balance with a session left after the Three Lions stormed back with the quick wickets.
However, Nkrumah Bonner and former skipper Jason Holder showed a great amount of resilience and put on an unbeaten 80-run stand off 35 overs. Brathwaite reckoned that Root was a bit ‘disrespectful’ towards the West Indies, having not called off the game earlier.
Brathwaite, who last played Test cricket back in 2016, reckoned that England wouldn’t have shown the same audacity in the Ashes or in Test series against India, New Zealand or Pakistan.
Carlos Brathwaite lashes out at Joe Root
“If I were a senior player in the West Indies dressing room, I would have found it a bit disrespectful that in the last hour, with two set batsmen playing as they were, England still felt they could get six wickets, going all the way down to five balls left,” Brathwaite said.
“Would England have done that if it were an Ashes Test? Would they have done that against India, New Zealand, Pakistan?” he added.
West Indies ended their final innings at 147 for four as the opening Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua ended in a draw. Bonner showed guts in the second innings, but he also scored 123 runs in the first innings.
On the back of his efforts, he also won the Player of the Match award. The likes of Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach also performed well for the home team in the first Test of the series.
The second Test is scheduled to get underway on Wednesday, March 16 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
