Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin both scored fifties as West Indies reached 8-280 against England at stumps on the third day of the third Test at Edgbaston on Saturday.
Samuels followed his hundred in England’s nine-wicket second Test win at Trent Bridge with a stylish 76 as this match finally got underway after the first two days had been washed out without a ball being bowled.
West Indies, who had been a solid 1-85 at lunch, slumped to 5-152 but rallied thanks to a sixth-wicket stand of 56 between Samuels and wicketkeeper Ramdin.
At the close, Ramdin was 60 not out after completing a 97-ball half-century with six fours. Ravi Rampaul was unbeaten on two.
Graham Onions marked his recall to Test duty in the absence of rested paceman James Anderson and Stuart Broad with figures of 3-56 in 24 overs while Tim Bresnan took 3-74 in 26.
Samuels, banned for two years for betting offences in 2008, was delighted by his latest innings.
“Right now, this is my time to enjoy myself, my time to shine,” he said.
Onions and Steven Finn both played after England rested new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
But, as Anderson had done at Trent Bridge, Onions engaged Samuels in plenty of ‘banter’ in the middle.
“I guess Onions is not learning,” said Samuels.
“It motivated me to stay out there. It was rude but fun.”
Onions himself was just delighted to be playing Test cricket again after suffering a career-threatening back injury.
“A couple of years ago I genuinely didn’t think I was going to play cricket again, which made today even more special,” said Onions, appearing in his ninth Test but first in more than two years.
“I was pretty nervous this morning but I really enjoyed it – it was like a second (England) debut,” added the 29-year-old Durham quick, who still has a five inch titanium screw in his back.
England’s position might have been stronger had they not dropped three slip catches.
History was against either side winning this match as only twice before, when England beat New Zealand at Leeds in 1958 and New Zealand defeated Bangladesh at Hamilton in 2001, had teams won a Test after the first two days had been washed out completely.
That England captain Andrew Strauss opted to field first after winning the toss against a West Indies side whose top-order collapses had helped the hosts into an unassailable 2-0 lead in this three-Test series was no surprise.