Twitter Reactions: Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood's 90-run stand saves England from humiliation in Grenada Test

As the first two Tests between West Indies and England ended in draw, both teams stacked up their lineups with batters and all-rounders rather than pure bowlers but despite that, there was a flurry of wickets at the start of the innings for the visitors. However, England managed to revive themselves with an excellent last-wicket stand, between Saqib Mahmood and Jack Leach, and got to a somewhat respectable total in the end.

Earlier in the day, West Indies opted to bowl first after winning the toss and the move worked out really well for the host nation at the Grenada National Cricket Stadium. England’s new opening combination Alex Lees and Zak Crawley did start off well, and the former particularly got going straight away. Skipper Brathwaite brought Kyle Mayers into the attack and it paid off really well as the latter picked up Crawley for just 7 runs.

Joe Root came out to the middle and surprisingly, he was out for a duck off Mayers’ bowling. Lawrence and Lees tried to battle it out in the crease but Lawrence couldn’t last long as he was trapped LBW in front of the wickets. Stokes followed Lawrence soon and all hopes were on Lees to play big innings. However, Roach who came for his second spell managed to pick Lees while Bairstow could not affect the scoreboard either.

Leach and Mahmood revive England

Ben Foakes and Chris Woakes were cleaned up by Jayden Seales for seven and 25 respectively while Overton made a decent contribution of 14 coming into bat at number eight. The visitors were in all sorts of trouble at 114/9 in the 54th over and they desperately were in need of a miracle. Jack Leach who is known for his ability to stick around for a long time at the crease joined hands with Saqib Mahmood.

The duo added 90 runs for the last wicket and played out 36.2 overs together, almost taking it to the end of the day’s play. However, Mahmood who was playing really well on 49 got dismissed in the last over of the day as Blackwood got through the defences of the former while Leach stayed unbeaten at the crease on 41 off 141 deliveries.  It was an unfortunate end as Mahmood deserved a half-century for his valiant effort as England was bundled out for 204.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to England’s last wicket display: