West Indies fight back against England to put a whitewash on hold – as Gus Atkinson dazzles with the ball but England look ropey with the bat on the opening day of the Third Test

England’s hopes of the whitewash that many had regarded as a formality were dealt a blow by three late wickets as West Indies fought back on a topsy-turvy day at Edgbaston.

On a day when West Indies’ batsmen failed to cash in on benign conditions in Birmingham, their bowlers gave them hope of avoiding the whitewash many regarded as a formality.

Four wickets for Gus Atkinson and three on his home ground for Chris Woakes had limited the tourists to 282 – only for Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph to reduce England to 38 for three as the shadows lengthened. 

When play resumes Saturday morning with Ollie Pope and Joe Root at the crease, we will have a game on our hands, not least because the pitch is already showing signs of uneven bounce.

For the first 23 deliveries of the England reply, it had seemed business as usual, as Zak Crawley drove, pulled and flicked three fours in four balls off Jayden Seales. The scoreboard had raced to 29, more than one-tenth of the West Indian total summarily dealt with.

Chris Woakes, (centre) also hit three wickets on his home ground, in a solid opening session for England’s bowlers

But the final delivery of the over was wider, luring Crawley into a drive that flew to Jason Holder at second slip. Before England had time to ask whether that was good bowling or complacent batting, Ben Duckett had played on to Alzarri Joseph. 

And it was 31 for three when nightwatchman Mark Wood poked at Seales and was caught low down by a tumbling Holder. The Hollies Stand, in full cry moments earlier as the beer and the boundaries worked their magic, fell silent. West Indies were jubilant.

The three late wickets cast a more favourable light on their efforts with the bat after Kraigg Brathwaite had won an important toss on a typically slow but true Edgbaston surface.

At 76 for none and with lunch approaching, Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis had built on their two half-century stands in Nottingham that were forgotten amid the mayhem of West Indies’ fourth-innings collapse. 

Now, though, they threatened to blow it again, as five wickets in nine overs either side of lunch undid their morning’s work.

The cascade began when Louis fiddled at Atkinson and was caught behind for 26, maintaining his curious record of batting for at least an hour in every innings this summer without reaching 30.

Kirk McKenzie hammered Atkinson for three off-side fours in four balls, before Mark Wood swung a 91mph delivery through his defences, leaving West Indies’ No 3 with 25 runs in the series at an average of five. 

And from the last ball of the session, Alick Athanaze unaccountably tried to take on a short ball from Atkinson, succeeding only in dragging it on to his stumps. It was naïve cricket.

While Brathwaite was still there, having ticked off his first half-century of the summer, West Indies had hope. But, on 61, he flapped at a leg-side delivery from Wood, and accepted the caught-behind verdict without demur.

Chris Woods made a mess of Trinidadian Jayden Seales’ stumps, before England took to bat

The tourists staged a fightback, knocking out England’s opening batters before close of play

West Indies’ response could prevent an anticipated whitewash in the Third Test at Edgbaston

Replays, though, suggested his hand might have been off the bat handle when ball brushed glove, conjuring up one of this ground’s most famous moments: back in 2005, Steve Harmison had removed Michael Kasprowicz in similar circumstances to secure a two-run win for England in the second Ashes Test. In those days, DRS did not exist; Brathwaite had no such excuse.

And when Kavem Hodge, a first-innings centurion in Nottingham, played no shot to a ball from Woakes that held its line and clipped off stump, West Indies had lost five for 39.

Had either of Holder or wicketkeeper Josh Da Silva followed quickly, they might have failed to reach 200 for the fourth time in five innings. But both players put the conditions into perspective during a stand of 109 that left Stokes setting funky fields and Wood charging in from round the wicket.

In the event, it was Woakes – his rhythm improving all the time – who made the breakthrough, as Da Silva chased a wide one and was caught behind one short of a fifty. 

Woakes then had Alzarri Joseph chipping to Ben Stokes at mid-off for 15, before Atkinson produced the ball of the day to the well-set Holder, an unplayable delivery that shaped towards leg, before nipping back to hit off stump.

Atkinson then bounced out Gudakesh Motie with the help of a smart catch by Joe Root, diving behind Jamie Smith, who had threatened to block his view. And Bashir ended a last-wicket stand of 23 with the help of another good catch, this time by Crawley at long-on.

But it was the performance of Atkinson, watched by his dad, Ed, that will have given England most satisfaction, following concerns that a trio of back-to-back matches might prove too much for a fast bowler still finding his way at Test level. 

Instead, he bowled more overs – 20 – than any of his team-mates, and took his embryonic England record to 20 wickets at 16 in just two and a half games.

‘He’s making it look quite easy, isn’t he?’ said Woakes. ‘He’s got the ability to swing the ball and a good wobble seam, and he’s got some pace behind him so he can use short ball ploy well. He looks the all-round bowler.’

The speculation after Nottingham was that England might rest Atkinson, and have their first look at Dillon Pennington. But Stokes wants to reacquaint his team with the feeling of winning, and that meant going with his best side.

Atkinson repaid the compliment, only for West Indies to remind England that even their best side may not be good enough.