Stokes and Buttler bat England into a strong position on day one

England, having already lost the series with a Test to spare, made two changes to the side that lost in Antigua. Keaton Jennings, who was jettisoned from the side two Tests ago, won a recall to open the batting as England changed the balance of their side.

Jennings’ return meant that Denly dropped down to number three while Ben Foakes, England’s wicketkeeper-batsman who was Player of the Series in Sri Lanka last year, was the unlucky man to miss out as Jonny Bairstow reclaimed the gloves and moved from number three to number seven. Mark Wood also returned to the side in place of all-rounder Sam Curran as England looked to bolster both their batting and bowling options.

A complicated re-shuffle that was perhaps a sign of the difference in mindset between the two sides. England, with changes aplenty, while Windies' only alteration from the side that won the first two Tests was the introduction of Keemo Paul for the suspended Jason Holder – as close to a like-for-like replacement as you’re going to get.

With an Ashes series just two Tests away for England, there as an opportunity for England’s inexperienced – at Test level at least – top three of Rory Burns, Jennings and Denly to make an un-ignorable claim for selection when stand-in Windies skipper won the toss and inserted England in to bat.

Having yet to pass 300 as team in the series, Burns and Jennings started watchfully either side of a brief break in play for rain in the first session. Windies’ attack were as relentless as they have been all series. While Roach was guilty of straying in line in his opening spell, they made scoring difficult for the England batsmen on a pitch that was a touch two-paced and had, by modern standards, a very slow outfield.

Burns and Jennings battled hard for their runs, but Keemo Paul, aged just 20 and playing in his third Test, had Jennings caught by Darren Bravo at slip for eight. Unfortunately for Jennings, it was a familiar dismissal to how he was out in the first Test, driving loosely at a wide and full delivery.

Burns and Denly rallied either side of lunch but both fell lbw in consecutive overs as England looked on the brink of yet another collapse. Burns missed a flick across the line off Paul, who despite being the slowest of the four Windies pacers swung the ball both ways with admirable control, while Denly was trapped in front by Shannon Gabriel.

England’s captain Joe Root again didn’t look at his best and miscued a cut off Alzarri Joseph to fall for 15. At 107/4, Windies were on top. Initially, neither Jos Buttler nor Ben Stokes looked particularly comfortable at the crease. Buttler was dropped early in his innings, while Ben Stokes survived a review for lbw by a matter of millimetres. But then, for the first time in the tour, England’s batsmen batted with the natural confidence that their talent deserves.

Stokes, whose top score this series was 34 prior to today, batted with a kind of fluency that had since deserted him this tour. In the final session, the scoring was free. Although none of England’s top three really kicked on earlier in the day, the 196 balls they faced between them arguably made batting easier for their teammates lower down the order against a tiring attack. Stokes was given a life late day when he was superbly caught by Joseph off his own bowling. With Stokes back in the pavilion, replays showed that Joseph had marginally over-stepped and Stokes was subsequently called back to the crease.

By the end of the day, the pair of Stokes and Buttler had batted England to a score of 231/4, comfortably their best outing of the tour so far.