West Indies wicketkeeper / batsman Joshua Da Silva had said he was sure the runs would come. What he couldn’t foresee was a penetrative bowling spell from Kyle Mayers, which left England 8 wickets down at the end of the day’s play on Saturday 26th March 2022. All around, it was a magical day of cricket in the Spice Isle, Grenada.
Within the first hour of play on Day 3 of the Test match, West Indies lost Kemar Roach without adding to his overnight 25. This must have given Joe Root and his men false hope that they would mop up the West Indies tail soon thereafter. Indeed, listening to Chris Woakes at the end of Day 2, this was England’s plan, to get the final 2 wickets within the first hour of play, when West Indies would have resumed on 232/8 with Da Silva on 54.
What they didn’t know was that Jayden Seales had promised his fellow countryman Joshua Da Silva, that he would stay with him, ultimately until he got a century. Together, they put on 52 runs off 153 balls, with Seales contributing 13 off 59. In a comedic moment, just after getting to his century with a boundary, Da Silva thought he had edged one to the ‘keeper, walked off but reviewed it ‘by the way.’ All the players had left the field when they had to be called back out because the umpire had to change his decision to NOT OUT. The innings wrapped up shortly after when England Captain Joe Root took a return catch to dismiss Seales. By then, the Windies bowlers must have been chomping at the bits to have a go at the Englishmen, armed with a valuable 93 run lead.
And that they did. Seales started the action in the fourth over, getting rid of Zak Crawley. Then came Kyle Mayers who uprooted Joe Root, Dan Lawrence and Ben Stokes. The other two scalps in his five wicket haul were Alex Lees and Craig Overton. He also contributed to the run out of Ben Foakes. Could we give him a sixth wicket then? -_- No? Alrighty then. His figures were an impressive 13 overs, 7 maidens, 9 runs and 5 wickets, with an economy rate of 0.69. End of day 3 score: England 103/8, a lead of 10.
The two stars of the day, Da Silva and Mayers, spoke with the media after their magical day in the Spice Isle. The full interviews are below, in two parts. Bets are on as to how soon the game will end on Day 4. What say you?