On the same day that Bangladesh saved their run-feast Test against Pakistan, the other international taking place followed a very different path as 18 wickets tumbled in Barbados - the most ever to fall in a day's Test cricket in the Caribbean. James Anderson took 6 for 42, earning England a first-innings lead of 68, but they stumbled badly in their second innings as they were left tottering on 39 for 5, the advantage extended to 107 on a surface where every run was at a premium.
West Indies were superb in the final period of the day: the five bowlers used conceded just four boundaries in 21 overs. Jerome Taylor, who set the tone with three morning wickets to end England's first innings, again found the fast, full swing which can make him so dangerous, Shannon Gabriel pushed 93mph and Amerasian Per maul probed out of the rough.
Amid the many subplots to the day there was the likely last innings of Jonathan Trott's Test career as he failed for a second time, completing a poor series where he has made double figures just once, when he was lbw to Taylor. His Warwickshire colleague Ian Bell completed the second pair of his Test career when he went the same way. Bell's previous pair was ten years ago, in a certain Test at The Oval.
Meanwhile, Alastair Cook could not build on his cathartic hundred when he edged Gabriel to slip and Joe Root was also caught in the cordon, driving at Jason Holder. It is fair to say the quality of batting throughout the day was not the highest, when Moeen Ali dragged on a ball from Permaul which skidded low out of the footmarks in the penultimate over, West Indies could be considered to have evened the ledger for the day. If England find another 100 runs from the last five wickets chasing 200 will pose tough questions, but they will take some gouging out on the third - and probably last - day.It is worth a reminder that England resumed on 240 for 7,
but they could only add another 17 runs and in all the last six wickets fell for 68, although when West Indies slipped to 21 for 3 in the face of Andersen's opening burst that became more than competitive. Anderson picked up where he had left off on the final day in Grenada; his first spell was a classy 6-4-4-3 and after tea another three-wicket burst wrapped up West Indies' innings and pushed Anderson closer to his next milestone: 400 wickets.West Indies would have been further adrift on first innings had it not been for Jermaine Black wood's punchy 88-ball 85.
It has been a mixed series for him, a maiden hundred interspersed with some reckless shots, but these were priceless runs made in a wonderfully free spirit - including three sixes, the best a straight drive off Ben Stokes - having walked in with his team a mess at 37 for 4. He was the last-man out, lofting to long-off, to give Anderson his sixth wicket.Black wood and Shivering Chandelier hinted at a fightback after Andersen's first spell, but the latter fell to another stunning slip catch by Chris Jordan, then Stokes and Stuart Broad made good use of a ball that started to reverse to further work through the middle order.