Stokes and Buttler battle back for England in third Test after Jennings falls cheaply again
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler put on an unbeaten 124-run stand to put England in a good position on 231-4
KEATON JENNINGS played another excruciating innings and could have been out three times before being dismissed for just eight.
The Lancashire opener offered zero evidence that the selectors were correct to give him a shock recall for the Third Test.
And, with Rory Burns and Joe Denly also failing to make meaningful contributions, England’s top-order once more wobbled and tumbled against the West Indies quick bowlers.
With captain Joe Root falling to a careless shot, England’s top four was sent packing with just 104 on the board on day one of the final match of the series.
Another defeat would leave England whitewashed and humiliated by a margin of 3-0.
Jennings perished in the manner that has become synonymous with his faltering international career - driving at a widish ball and edging a catch into the slip cordon.
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His return just one match after being dropped raised many eyebrows and there was plenty of sympathy for wicket keeper Ben Foakes, dumped to accommodate Jennings in a re-shuffled batting order.
Any hope that Jennings might have tightened his technique soon disappeared.
He played and missed, edged short of second slip, would have been lbw for three if the Windies had reviewed and, two balls later, was dropped at third slip off Kemar Roach - a straightforward chance.
The batsman was eventually spared further public anxiety when he edged Keemo Paul’s first delivery to first slip.
It was all-rounder Paul, the replacement for banned skipper Jason Holder, who made the initial two breakthroughs for the Windies.
Or, to give him his full name, Keemo Mandela Angus Paul.
No prizes for guessing the inspiration for his first middle name but the second is believed to be in honour of former England seamer Angus Fraser.
Paul was born in February 1998, just four days after Fraser took 20 wickets in two back-to-back Tests against West Indies in Trinidad.
Old Gus never swung the ball as sharply as Paul did here. And, after removing Jennings with his first ball, he nailed Burns plumb lbw.
Surprisingly for such an obvious decision, umpire Kumar Dharmasena chose not to raise his finger but a Windies review left no doubt.
Burns shaped up better than Jennings but, six matches into his Test career, he continues to struggle to turn promising starts into significant scores.
In the next over, Denly was leg before to one of Shannon Gabriel’s thunderbolts. Denly reviewed but in vain.
Four of Denly’s runs came courtesy of overthrows and his innings of 20 was sketchy at best.
Early on, he edged Gabriel short of second slip and then, on four, he was caught behind off Gabriel off the glove - but reviews showed his hand had come off the bat handle. Not out.
The pitch was becoming quicker as it dried and firmed and batting was again a difficult business as it was in the first two Tests, which England lost by 381 runs and ten wickets.
A slow outfield didn’t help England’s rate-of-progress, either.
But, regardless of the conditions, England’s top-order is a huge concern with the Ashes looming this summer.
Jonny Bairstow has been given his wish and shunted down the order from No.3 and handed back the wicket keeping gloves. That leaves three places up for grabs.
Burns has done enough to play against the Aussies but it is difficult to see either Jennings or Denly featuring.
It means the likes of James Vince, Jason Roy, Joe Clarke and several other county batsmen could arrive as a top three bolter for the Ashes series.
Root was given a torrid time by Paul’s away-swing and Jos Buttler struggled in his early exchanges with the high-velocity Gabriel.
Root edged Paul just short of first slip and offered several injudicious drives without making contact.
Buttler was dropped by a leaping second slip before he scored and edged Gabriel in the air between third slip and gully.
Eventually, just as he was looking more settled, captain Root perished for his fifth low score of the series when he flashed at a wide ball from Alzarri Joseph and edged a catch to the ‘keeper. A case of Joseph being dismissed by Joseph.
Root departed in a mixture of fury and bafflement at why he had played such a loose shot.
Ben Stokes, on six, was within a whisker of departing, too, when a review for lbw by Paul came up as ‘umpire’s call’ on height - meaning the original not out decision stood.
After that, Stokes produced the most positive batting of the day as he tried to provide substance to England’s innings. The normally-aggressive Buttler was forced to be watchful as the pair went past a half-century stand for the fifth wicket.