Jason Holder, the Windies captained, was “ecstatic” after scoring a double-century against England in front of his home crowd in Barbados on the third day of the first Test, and said “it was a dream come true”.
The Windies batsmen – Shane Dowrich (116*) and Holder – made the visiting bowlers toil for almost five hours on a surface where England folded for just 77. As many as 18 wickets fell on the second day, but there wasn’t a single wicket on Day 3 at the Kensington Oval on Friday, 25 January.
Windies resumed the day on 127/6, with Dowrich unbeaten on 27 and Holder keeping him company on seven. They kept going for most of the rest of the day, and eventually declared on 415/6, setting England a mammoth target of 628 – the highest set by Windies – to win.
Holder’s partnership with Dowrich was alone worth 295 runs.
Dowrich faced 224 deliveries for his 116* runs, but the day was all about Holder, who brought up his career-best Test score. His 202* featured 23 fours and eight sixes.
“To score a double hundred in front of your home crowd is a very pleasing feeling,” said Holder. “I was ecstatic. It was a dream come true. My friends and family were here to enjoy it, as I really wanted to achieve this from the very start of my career.”
“We wanted to get Shane to his hundred and bat for half an hour or so after tea,” Holder revealed. “Jimmy and Stokesy made us play a lot of deliveries in the channel, particularly Stokes with his angle and getting the ball to leave.
“He was a threat all day and credit to him, he made us work hard for our runs, but it was a really pleasing day, to bat up past tea and form the partnership that we did.”
