Ben Duckett set the agenda for England as he and Harry Brook helped turn a frustrating third morning at Trent Bridge into a 207-run lead in the second Test.
In last week’s series opener at Lord’s England were celebrating with pints of Guinness by lunch on day three, marking an innings victory in James Anderson’s farewell outing, but they were made to work considerably harder in Nottingham.
A last-wicket stand of 71 between Josh Da Silva and Shamar Joseph handed the tourists a 41-run lead, frustrating the hosts as they failed to kill off the innings that sprawled to 457.
England were still 34 behind when Zak Crawley was unluckily run out by a fingertip touch at the non-striker’s end and could easily have found themselves in a spot of bother. But an enterprising knock of 76 from Duckett set them on their way to a stumps score of 248 for three.
Brook took over in the evening session, showcasing some wonderfully instinctive strokeplay as he racked up an unbeaten 71 as he bossed a 108-run partnership with Joe Root (37no).
Duckett, whose very participation had been in doubt due to the imminent arrival of his first child, hit 71 in 59 balls in the first session of the game and followed up with another impactful effort at the head of the innings.
While he would dearly have loved to go on to a fourth Test century, the importance of the left-hander’s energy and ambition cannot be overlooked. At a time when England could have made a meal of clearing an awkward deficit, he refused to let the West Indies attack settle and had the controlling interest in a second century stand of the match with Ollie Pope.
Pope, fresh from his sixth Test hundred on Thursday, fired the starting pistol by sending five of his first 11 balls to the boundary but it was Duckett who kept the bowlers on the back foot consistently.
He leaned into his drives, manipulated the gaps either side of backward point and swept Kevin Sinclair with a sprinkle of certainty. Although not quite able to keep pace with his 32-ball half-century from day one, he brought up his second fifty of the week with three fours in an over from the off-spinner.
After sharing a stand of 119 both batters fell in quick succession, undone as a change of ball and a change of overhead conditions converged. Alzarri Joseph used both to his advantage, Pope feeding an away swinger to gully and Duckett lbw after a hooping yorker smashed him on the boot.
Another couple of losses in trying conditions could have really hurt England but their Yorkshire duo rose to the challenge. Brook did so with a flourish, uppercutting over the slips, threading the gaps behind square at will and taking a step down the ground to hammer Jason Holder.
Root was more sober but no less effective, peaking with a pair of immaculate cover drives.
England’s day started well with the ball before the stubborn partnership between Da Silva (82no) and Shamar Joseph (33) held them up.
Resuming 65 behind on 351 for five, the Windies lost four for 35. Rejuvenated after a slow start to the series, Chris Woakes shouldered a 90-minute spell at the Radcliffe Road End and came up trumps, finding just enough nip under murky skies to pick off Holder, Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales.
That is when things started to take a turn for the worse. Ben Stokes kept the all-rounder on too long, an apparent attempt to guide his team-mate to a five-wicket haul on his 50th appearance, then set some uncharacteristically negative fields in pursuit of the final wicket.
That set up a game of cat-and-mouse that Da Silva emphatically won, cleverly marshalling the strike to get Shamar Joseph up to speed. What started as an annoyance became something more significant as the West Indian deficit was polished into a useful advantage.
Da Silva, whose only Test hundred came against England in Grenada two years ago, launched Mark Wood for sixes over extra-cover and deep third before his tailend partner rubbed salt into the wounds.
Twice he spanked Gus Atkinson into the Fox Stand, the second time sending a flurry of roof tiles onto the spectators underneath the Larwood and Voce tavern.
Wood eventually had the number 11 caught at mid-on, belated reward for his sustained barrage of pace over 20 luckless overs.