West Indies opener, Kraigg Brathwaite believes his side could come out with a victory if they can keep England to a small second innings total in the first Test.
West Indies contained England to 204 in their first innings before establishing a 114-run lead. England closed the day on 15 without loss to bring the deficit under 100 heading into day four of the five-day test.
Speaking to the media via the team’s virtual press conference after the close of play, Brathwaite shared his view on how his side can come out on top.
“We will see tomorrow how the pitch plays and stuff but I think it if we could get them out for 200 runs similar to their first innings score but I think it is key tomorrow to see how it plays in the morning session and we move from there,” he stated.
Brathwaite added:”It is a low-scoring game so tomorrow is key to get as much wickets as possible, defend that lead if not all that would be great but defend as much as possible so we wouldn’t have to chase that much.”
The 27-year-old explained, “Looking at the team’s position we are in a decent position now, just got to be small and make some plays with the ball tomorrow.”
The Barbados-born right hander said:“I think it was very important for us to get that 100-run lead and put us in a decent position but as I said we still got to work hard tomorrow, especially the first session will be crucial for us. I think the batmen did a decent job to get the lead and we just got to build from there.”
The West Indies’ most capped Test batsman in the side was integral to his side’s first innings lead having top scored with 65.
“I think it was challenging throughout, I think all the bowlers really put in a good effort, Jimmy [James Anderson] was obviously in more fuller areas at times but I think all the bowlers were quite aggressive and throughout the day it was challenging but I think it was a good batting pitch,” was his assessment of the day’s play.
Brathwaite speaking of the half century acknowledged that it could not “obviously compare to a hundred,” but credited his performance as well as Shane Dowrich, who made 61 as doing “a good job for the team.”
Despite missing out on a ton, Brathwaite’s half-century is his first 50-plus score since 2018.
“It was a good feeling, obviously it’s been a while so I’m thankful, I just want to keep growing from strength to strength so just focus on doing that job to the best of my ability,” he said.Brathwaite contended his job is always to lay the foundation for his side and he is happy to continue playing that role.
“I just want to do my job, I’m opening the batting and my job is to build the foundation for the guys to come and make it easier for them so that’s all I stick to do no matter how much years I play that will always be my job,” he said.
