ST GEORGE’S: West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin said he was hopeful that all-rounder Jason Holder will be fit for the third and final Test against England in Barbados on Friday.

Holder fell badly in his delivery stride, turning his left ankle, as West Indies slumped to a nine-wicket defeat to the tourists on Saturday.

Although the promising Bajan was stretchered off the field, evidently in some pain, Ramdin said the initial analysis was that the injury was not as bad as it seemed.

“It’s just a slight injury. Hopefully he can rest up for the next few days and come back stronger,” said Ramdin.

It was a tough loss for West Indies who had batted well on the fourth day, with Kraigg Brathwaite scoring a century to set up a chance to save the Test and force a second straight draw.

But the early loss of Brathwaite and five others before lunch radically shifted the balance of power.

“After four hard days of cricket, to lose the match in one session is really hard but that is how it goes,” said Ramdin.

“England went out and executed their plans and they had the conditions in their favour as the game went on,” he said, referring to England’s winning of the toss which allowed them to put West Indies in to bat in overcast, humid conditions.

“We fought hard for the first four days but that one session [before lunch] where we lost six wickets really cost us the match,” said Ramdin.

England captain Alastair Cook, meanwhile, gave the credit for the victory to James Anderson after the seam bowler’s blistering spell in the morning transformed the game.

A draw looked the likeliest outcome when play resumed on the fifth and final day but Anderson removed three West Indies batsmen with the second new ball, including Brathwaite for 116, as his team claimed six wickets before lunch.

“The new ball was really crucial. It was all about trying to put the ball in the right areas and credit Jimmy, what an outstanding spell that was,” said Cook.

“I can’t fault the lads, it was a tough wicket to get any kind of result, slow and flat. To get 20 wickets the way we did was a great effort, down to attitude, character and a lot of skill,” he added after England went 1-0 up in the series.

“You can always improve on a performance but the lads were brilliant. The wickets have been slow and hard to force a result on but we’ve put in a lot of hard work and got our reward today.”

While the plaudits for Anderson, England’s all-time top wicket-taker in Tests, were thoroughly deserved, a superb unbeaten 182 from Joe Root in the first innings won him the man-of-the-match award.

“We were ruthless on the last day,” said Root. “It is a great win to take forward for the rest of the series and the summer.

“There are so many positives for us all to take and it’s fantastic. I can’t wait to get back out there in Barbados,” he added referring to the third and final Test at the Kensington Oval.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2015

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