NORTH SOUND: James Anderson became England’s leading wicket-taker in Test history but celebration of the historic milestone could not be complemented by a team triumph as the West Indies hung on for a draw on the final day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday.

Jason Holder played the innings of his young cricketing life to take the home side to safety with three wickets in hand at 350 for seven after they were set the improbable target of 438.

His maiden Test hundred of 103 not out, which spanned almost four hours during which he faced 149 deliveries and struck 15 fours, rescued the Caribbean team from what appeared to be a hopeless position when they slipped to 189-6 early in the afternoon session.

It was at that point, after first-innings centurion Jermaine Blackwood added to the litany of dismissals via irresponsible shots from the top-order, that Holder came to the crease. His calm, controlled batting was the perfect foil to Denesh Ramdin’s growing defiance, the pair putting on 105 runs for the seventh wicket when Anderson broke the record and gave his team one last chance to push for victory heading into the final hour of the match.

“It was just a matter of staying out there and basically having a knock, “said Holder, who was chosen as man-of-the-match. “The word we’ve been using as motivation in our dressing room is ‘belief.’ That belief made us all feel that the match could be saved, even with the bad start we had at the end of the day.”

Having drawn level with the record tally of 383 wickets by former all-rounder Sir Ian Botham when he dismissed Marlon Samuels in the morning, Anderson returned with the second new ball and finally separated Ramdin and Holder, inducing an indeterminate defensive prod from Ramdin to have the West Indies captain well caught for 57 by his England counterpart, Alastair Cook, at first slip.

Anderson greeted the historic moment with a combination of celebration and relief at claiming the coveted record in his 100th Test, although England’s focus reverted swiftly to getting back to the business of claiming the last three wickets.

“My immediate emotion was that we had gotten back into a winning position by opening up one end,” was the record-breaking bowler’s immediate reflection on the moment after play. “We tried our hearts out but there just wasn’t anything in that pitch to give us any assistance today.”

It ultimately proved unsuccessful as tailender Kemar Roach solidly defended everything hurled at him to end unbeaten on 15 off 75 deliveries. He survived one scare when given out caught behind down the leg-side off Anderson only for umpire Billy Bowden’s decision to be reversed on referral by the batsman.

“We knew it was going to be hard work and it proved to be,” Cook said afterwards. “Getting three wickets in the first session was a great effort. Credit to Jason Holder, we couldn’t have done any more. I can’t fault the lads’ effort.

“In these conditions, you almost have to play the perfect game and that doesn’t always happen. We dropped a couple of tough chances but I think it would be harsh to focus on those. It was a tough wicket. The lads fought incredibly hard.”

Cook did enjoy the moment when his catch to dismiss Ramdin that Anderson past Botham’s landmark.

“It was a great moment when Jimmy took the 384th wicket, we’ll remember it for a long time,” Cook said.

The England skipper had a disappointing match with the bat, scoring 11 and 13 to extend his long run without a Test century which dates back nearly two years.

Jonathan Trott also failed twice on his return to the side for the first time since leaving the 2013-14 Ashes tour in Australia due to a stress-related illness and England have plenty to ponder before the second Test in Grenada on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 399 (I.R. Bell 143, J.E. Root 83, B.A. Stokes 79; K.A.J. Roach 4-94, J.E. Taylor 3-90, J.O. Holder 2-69).

WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 295 (J. Blackwood 112 not out, S. Chanderpaul 46; J.C. Tredwell 4-47, J.M. Anderson 2-67, S.C.J. Broad 2-67).

ENGLAND (2nd Innings) 333-7 declared (G.S. Ballance 122, J.E. Root 59, J.C. Buttler 59; J.E. Taylor 2-42, S.J. Benn 2-115).

WEST INDIES (2nd Innings, overnight 98-2):

K.C. Brathwaite c Root b Broad 5

D.S. Smith c Ballance b Tredwell 65

D.M. Bravo c Jordan b Root 32

M.N. Samuels c Tredwell b Anderson 23

S. Chanderpaul lbw b Root 13

J. Blackwood c Buttler b Jordan 31

D. Ramdin c Cook b Anderson 57

J.O. Holder not out 103

K.A.J. Roach not out 15

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-2, NB-2) 6

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 129.4 overs) 350

FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-90, 3-119, 4-127, 5-155, 6-189, 7-294.

BOWLING: Anderson 24.4-3-72-2; Broad 21-5-61-1; Tredwell 40-14-93-1; Jordan 18-6-48-1 (2nb); Stokes 13-0-50-0; Root 13-6-22-2.

RESULT: Match drawn.

UMPIRES: B.F. Bowden (New Zealand) and S.J. Davis (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: B.N.J. Oxenford (Australia).

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

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jason Holder.

SECOND TEST: St George’s (Grenada), April 21-25.

THIRD TEST: Bridgetown (Barbados), May 1-5.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2015

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