Jermaine Blackwood and Shannon Gabriel starred with bat and ball respectively as the West Indies beat England by four wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, on Day 5 of the absorbing first Test at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday.
Gabriel, who was bumped into the main Test squad after being in the reserves due to his ankle injury, returned figures of 4/62 and 5/75 with his second innings spell wreaking havoc in the England ranks.
The fifth day though belonged to Blackwood (95 off 154 balls; 12×4) who first negotiated the barrage of bouncers well and also kept a cool head on his shoulders to emerge as the unlikely hero.
Chasing 200 for victory, the Windies were 27/3 at one stage before Roston Chase (37 off 88b; 1×4) and Blackwood shared a matchwinning 73-run stand for the fifth wicket to steady the ship and set them on course for a famous win which took place in front of empty stands but touched the high notes worldwide as cricket aficionados lapped up the action from their living rooms.
England captain Ben Stokes (2/39) tried hard to weave magic in the end by removing Blackwood who could not reach his century but Holder (14 not out) and John Campbell — who earlier retired hurt — remained not out on 8 to see the team through.
Brief Scores: England 204 & 313 (Z. Crawley 76, Dom Sibley 50; Shannon Gabriel 5/75); West Indies 318 & 200/6 (Jermaine Blackwood 95; Jofra Archer 3/45)
