England v West Indies 2020: Visitors dance to new-ball tunes

Okay, let's not fool ourselves. Test cricket isn't blockbuster stuff. Not by any stretch of the imagination. What's so fascinating about men laced in white flannels dead-batting the red cherry on a pitch as flat as glass?

Who in their right mind would fancy watching the attritional torment when a bit of harmless channel shuffling could land you on a jovial cartoon show? However, it's bland, the monotonous tempo does really come handy if you're looking forward to a lazy afternoon nap.

And then once in a blue moon, ducking its way through the burgeoning flak, the much-ridiculed format reveals its true colours, precipitating a roller-coaster of emotions bound to leave the most thrill-seeking junkie feeling nauseous.

West Indies' Shamarh Brooks copped a lot of chin music.

Yearning to draw level, West Indies had, in the secret confines of the dressing room, thanked the weather gods for raining down on England's parade. Though, regardless of the hosts being robbed off some precious time, the first hour of the fourth day's morning session all but evinced that forcing a stalemate wasn't going to be a cakewalk under any circumstances.

Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes operated magnificently in tandem, and Dom Bess extracted generous purchase from the footmarks plonked by left-armer Sam Curran in his follow-through. Even Curran made life difficult for the right-handers with his nippy slanters besides occasionally chancing his arm with the disguised slower variation.

Despite few early jolts, West Indies made a good fist of things rallying on Kraigg Braithwaite and Shamarh Brooks, the kingpins who showed the stomach for a fight. The two Windies' batsmen are characters poles apart with reference to both their height and technique.

While Brooks relished prodding forward and meeting the ball precisely under his nose, Braithwaite appeared content to hang back and use the depth of the crease.

Follow the match via our scorecard using the link belowhttps://t.co/3uEJs3ET93…#WIReady #ENGvWI #MenInMaroon pic.twitter.com/kKOnajI04d

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 19, 2020

Courtesy of their lion-hearted knocks, West Indies trudged along, only 43 adrift from leapfrogging the follow-on score of 270. The game was delicately poised, bereft of tremors, meandering on a serenely level pathway.

West Indies flounder against the new-ball

Forthwith, umpire Richard Illingworth signalled the availability of the second new ball. Joe Root cashed in straightaway and flung the mint-conditioned weapon of destruction to the experienced campaigner, Broad. In retrospect, harakiri would be an understatement to describe what transpired next.

Brooks, who'd looked in fine fettle for the best part of his inning hitherto, couldn't fathom the new-ball shenanigans and perished trapped plumb by Broad. The pace spearhead then floored Jermaine Blackwood with an unplayable shooter before pinging Shane Dowrich dead in front.

The hero of the previous tie, West Indies' Jermaine Blackwood bites the dust.

West Indies skipper Jason Holder resisted briefly but Woakes' soon had him poking to first slip. The shrewd tactical manoeuvre from England had resulted in West Indies being reduced to 260/8 within a span of four overs. The match hadn't just turned on its head but cartwheeled and jumped out of the window.

It was only fitting that the swashbuckling pair of Jos Butler and Ben Stokes took guard in England's second essay after Roston Chase's pyrotechnics blazed West Indies to 287 all out. Thus, on another gloomy evening when you're pissed off at the sight of cricket dawdling nomadically without a hint of purpose, remember, excitement may be just around the corner.