England wicketless as Windies swell first Test lead before lunch on day three

Captain Jason Holder outscored England on his own to cement Windies’ position of total dominance on day three of the first Test, in Barbados.

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Holder reached lunch unbeaten on 80, eclipsing the 77 all out scored by the tourists in their first innings on Thursday and sharing an unbroken stand of 117 with Shane Dowrich (61no).

The pair, who came together at 120-6 late on day two, turned an overnight lead of 339 into an advantage of 449 before the break by swelling the hosts’ total to 237-6.

England’s chances of saving the Test already looked slim after being bowled out for 77 but any thoughts they might revive their hopes by polishing off the Windies second innings quickly evaporated as Holder bedded in on a pitch offering little assistance.

The highest successful run-chase at Kensington Oval is the 311-9 scored by Windies against Australia in 1998-1999, while England’s highest Test run chase remains the 332-7 chalked up against Australia in 1928-29. The world-record Test run-chase is the 418 made by Windies against Australia in 2003: history is not on Joe Root’s side.

Eighteen wickets may have fallen on a dramatic second day, but England had barely a sniff of a breakthrough as Windies accumulated runs steadily – at times mercilessly.

Having seen off Ben Stokes and James Anderson, Holder shifted up a gear by striking Moeen Ali for three successive boundaries on his way to a 60-ball fifty.

He celebrated by hoisting Adil Rashid for six to bring up Windies’ 200 and climbed into another leg-spin delivery from the slow bowler to clear the midwicket rope.

Dowrich, meanwhile, reached his fifty off 93 balls with a glorious boundary through midwicket off Sam Curran, working the ball from off-stump.

The seamer, preferred to Stuart Broad for this Test, was again in the firing line as Holder brought up the century stand with a stunning lofted drive for six over long off.

Live coverage of day three of the first Test between Windies and England continues live on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404) and Sky Sports Main Event (channel 401).

You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.

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