BRIDGETOWN: West Indies defied the odds and a wearing pitch to complete a series-levelling five-wicket victory over England on the third day of the third and final Test here on Sunday.

Set a daunting target of 192 after the tourists were dismissed for 123 in their second innings at the Kensington Oval, a 108-run fifth-wicket partnership between Darren Bravo and Jermaine Blackwood tilted the match decisively the Caribbean side’s way.

That allowed them to celebrate their first victory over England since the opening match of the 2009 series in Kingston.

Bravo’s controlled knock of 82, his 11th Test half-century, ended when he attempted to make the victory hit off Ben Stokes as Stuart Broad pulled down the catch at mid-off.

It was left to Blackwood to finish off the match in the next over, hoisting Moeen Ali’s off-spin over long-on to finish unbeaten on 47 and complete a team and personal triumph following his first innings top score of 85 out of a total of 189.

He was named man-of-the-match.

“I always try to play my natural game but you have to be mindful of the situation as well,” said Blackwood. “[Darren] Bravo told me to just keep positive and we would be able to bring it home.”

West Indies seemed on the verge of another capitulation when veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul played on to James Anderson without scoring to leave the home side uncomfortably placed at 80 for four just after tea.

Anderson took the man-of-the-series honours for his 17 wickets in the three matches, lifting his overall Test tally to 397.

“It’s disappointing, but they chased down that target very well,” the seamer said.

Blackwood, who replaced Chanderpaul, capitalised on a significant moment of luck — a missed stumping by wicket-keeper Jos Buttler off Joe Root when only on four — to stay with his senior partner.

Gradually they wore down the England bowlers before unfurling the attacking shots that sped the West Indies to the target that seemed beyond them at the start of the chase given the state of the pitch and the low-scoring nature of the match.

“Losing the toss turned out really well for us. The bowlers performed superbly and young Bravo and Blackwood came up for us today,” said victorious West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin. “Anything over 220 would have been trickier, but we had a real belief in our team in this series.”

Openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope saw off the early assault from Anderson and Broad, although not without a few anxious moments.

But the introduction of Chris Jordan into the attack brought the breakthrough that England craved as the debutant fell leg-before for nine.

In the very next over, Jordan’s brilliance at slip throughout the series was again in evidence as he held on to a sharp chance left-handed to remove Brathwaite off Moeen’s off-spin for 25.

“Getting dismissed for 123 in the second innings opened up the match this morning,” England captain Alastair Cook conceded. “Defending 190-odd, you need to take every chance and we didn’t do that. We’ll have to take it on the chin, credit to West Indies they bowled well and put us under pressure. The bottom line is we haven’t done enough to win the series.”

England won the second Test in St George’s by nine wickets while the opening game of the three-match series in North Sound was drawn.

It was a disciplined and confident performance from a West Indies team that looks to have improved in several areas already in their first series under new coach Phil Simmons.

After a dreadful World Cup and with a home Ashes series on the horizon, England had been told ahead of the tour by incoming England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves that there would be ‘some enquiries’ if they did not win the series.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 257 (A.N. Cook 105, Moeen Ali 58, J.E. Root 33; J.E. Taylor 3-36, J.O. Holder 2-34, S.T. Gabriel 2-47).

WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 189 (J. Blackwood 85; J.M. Anderson 6-42).

ENGLAND (2nd Innings) 123 (J.C. Buttler 35 not out, B.A. Stokes 32; J.O. Holder 3-15, J.E. Taylor 3-33, V. Permaul 3-43).

WEST INDIES (2nd Innings):

K.C. Brathwaite c Jordan b Moeen 25

S.D. Hope lbw b Jordan 9

D.M. Bravo c Broad b Stokes 82

M.N. Samuels b Broad 20

S. Chanderpaul b Anderson 0

J. Blackwood not out 47

D. Ramdin not out 0

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-6) 11

TOTAL (for five wkts, 62.4 overs) 194

FALL OF WKTS: 1-35, 2-35, 3-70, 4-80, 5-188.

BOWLING: Anderson 13-4-35-1; Broad 13-5-29-1; Jordan 11-5-24-1; Moeen Ali 12.4-1-54-1; Root 8-4-16-0; Stokes 5-0-25-1.

RESULT: West Indies won by five wickets to level three-match series 1-1.

UMPIRES: B.F. Bowden (New Zealand) and BN.J. Oxenford (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: S.J. Davis (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jermaine Blackwood.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: James Anderson.

FIRST TEST: North Sound (Antigua), match drawn.

SECOND TEST: St George’s (Grenada), England won by nine wickets.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play