A century from Zak Crawley and 84 from Joe Root gave England control of the game by the end of Day 4 in Antigua. A chunk of overs was lost to the persistent rain as England finished on 217/1. They are now ahead by 153 runs.
On a pitch that has been of little help to the bowlers, Crawley and Root bid by their time and batted with patience and composure to ensure a near-wicketless day for their team.
Crawley, who got out cheaply in the first innings, brought his second Test century to justify his selection ahead of other openers. He played some wonderful strokes en route an unbeaten 117. Since his 267 against Pakistan in 2020, he had reached double digits only nine times in 21 innings.
Root looked a bit iffy at the start before starting to play with fluency. He brought his fifty with a four off Veerasammy Permaul.
Despite getting little help, Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, and Jason Holder managed to keep things tight. All of them conceded a shade over two per over. On the other hand, Veerasammy Permaul and Jayden Seales were expensive as both batters played them with ease.
England 311/10 (Jonny Bairstow 140; Jayden Seales 4-79) and 217/ 1 (Zak Crawley 117*; Kemar Roach 1-31) lead West Indies 375 (Nkrumah Bonner 123; Ben Stokes 2-42) by 153 runs.