West Indies beat England by four wickets on the final day of the first Test on Sunday, taking a 1-0 lead at the Ageas Bowl in a three-match series, thanks to a 95-run knock by Jermaine Blackwood.
England made early inroads into the West Indies batting line-up on Day V as the visitors targeted 200 to win, reducing them to 27/3 before Blackwood began to set the foundations for a big win for the Caribbean side, albeit behind closed doors.
When opener John Campbell retired hurt following a toe-crushing yorker from Jofra Archer, Blackwood came in before lunch and began to anchor the innings, sharing a 73-run stand with Roston Chase (37).
“It was a nerve-wracking start after losing three quick wickets and Campbell to injury,” Windies captain Jason Holder told BBC. “But Roston and Jermaine put on a good partnership and settled the nerves. From there we could build on.
“I missed the Barmy Army but it was a level playing field without the crowds. It’s been a good start back to international cricket, it sets the series up quite nicely.”
The Barbados-born Archer, who finished with 3/45, troubled the batsmen throughout with his pace and bounce but England were unable to dismiss the danger man Blackwood.
In the end, the 28-year-old Jamaican narrowly missed out on his second Test century when he tried to lift a Ben Stokes delivery over the infield, only to gift James Anderson a catch.
Campbell then returned to the crease with West Indies six wickets down to join Holder, who played a patient knock of 14 off 36 balls, to guide the West Indies home in the final session.
Earlier, England were bowled out for 313 in their second innings after resuming on 284/8, with the overnight pair of Archer and Mark Wood failing to offer much resistance.
Shannon Gabriel finished with figures of 5/75 — his sixth five-wicket haul in Tests — while Chase and Alzarri Joseph picked up two wickets apiece.
“Ideally we would have liked to have got more runs in the first innings,” England captain Stokes said, adding that he stood by his decision to bat first.
“We got ourselves into great positions at times with the bat to kick on and get 350 or 400, and we weren’t ruthless enough. We didn’t manage to grasp the game as we would have liked.”
Jermaine Blackwood AP
Vaughan’s advice
Michael Vaughan has advised that England should look beyond Joe Denly but retain Zak Crawley when regular skipper Joe Root returns for the second Test against the West Indies.
Denly managed 18 and 29 in this Test and has now gone without a fifty in his last eight innings.
His Kent team-mate Crawley top-scored for England with 76 in the second innings and Vaughan said Denly should make room for Root, who missed the Southampton Test to attend the birth of his second child.
“It’s not even a conversation,” Vaughan, who captained England in 51 Tests, told BBC Sport. “You could argue that Denly was very lucky to have played 15 Test matches. There are a lot of players who have played only eight Tests and got hundreds.”
