Jonny Bairstow 140 carries England beyond elusive 300-mark

West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell set about brisk reply

Lunch West Indies 44 for 0 (Brathwaite 29*, Campbell 14*) trail England 311 (Bairstow 140, Seales 4-79) by 267 runs

But West Indies set about unravelling his good work with a brisk start to their reply and at lunch were 44 without loss, trailing by 267 runs, with Kraigg Brathwaite scoring at a run-a-ball, with five boundaries amidst his unbeaten 29. Chris Woakes conceded 23 off his first three overs as he, Craig Overton and Mark Wood failed to stem the flow of runs.

England resumed at 268 for 6 with Bairstow unbeaten on 109 but, with the ball only six overs old, West Indies had designs on wrapping up the innings quickly. They did so before lunch, but not before Bairstow had reached 140 and taken the England total into elusive territory.

With just two overs bowled and less than 10 minutes gone in the day’s play, a squally shower swept through to halt proceedings but, after a delay lasting less than 10 minutes, bright sunshine returned to the ground, as did the players.

Seales then made it two wickets in three balls when Overton stabbed a length ball towards short leg, where the crouching Nkrumah Bonner took a roundabout catch via his midriff, thighs and eventually hands.

Bairstow continued to accumulate, driving Jason Holder with aplomb through cover moments before feeding him a return catch that bobbled out of Holder’s hands with Bairstow on 126. Bairstow could do little wrong, scampering through for a quick single off the last ball of the over and comfortably beating a direct hit to make his ground. Then he threaded Seales for four through third to carry England past 300 for the first time since August last year – against India at Headingley.

After Alzarri Joseph had Mark Wood caught at point by Veerasammy Permaul, he claimed Bairstow as the last man out via a top edge high over backward point, where Holder scrambled around and pouched an excellent catch.

Seales finished with 4 for 79 to be the pick of the West Indies bowlers, while Holder remained economical with 2 for 24 from 21 overs, which included 11 maidens. Joseph and Kemar Roach also took two wickets each.