West Indies fight back to leave third Test finely poised

England lost openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett late in the evening session as they surrendered the initiative to reach 38-3 at stumps on day one of the third Test against West Indies.

Gus Atkinson had earlier taken four wickets as England’s bowlers rallied to snuff out a West Indies fightback and restrict them to 282, only for three late wickets to boost the tourists.

Crawley nicked off to Jayden Seales before Duckett inside edged Alzarri Joseph on to his own stumps the very next ball.

Nightwatcher Mark Wood was also caught in the slips off Seales (2-19) to leave Ollie Pope and Joe Root to navigate a tricky few overs before the close.

West Indies had earlier teetered precariously at 115-5 after they had won the toss, with Kraigg Brathwaite’s determined innings of 61 initially looking like nothing more than a sticking plaster at the top of the order, but they battled back.

After five wickets fell for 39 runs the momentum appeared to be with England as they sniffed the opportunity to bowl West Indies out cheaply inside two sessions.

Instead Jason Holder (59) and Joshua Da Silva (49) dug in and played with maturity as they guided West Indies towards something like a respectable first-innings total with a stand of 109.

Atkinson and Chris Woakes, who claimed three wickets, snuffed any hopes West Indies might have had of posting something more daunting. (BBC)