Brathwaite and Hope hold firm against England

Shai Hope led the West Indies to a remarkable five-wicket victory over England in the second Test on Tuesday as he became the first batsman to score two hundreds in a first-class match at Headingley.

The West Indies, set a seemingly imposing 322 for victory, finished on 322 for five with 28 balls to spare.

Hope, who struck stylish boundaries on both sides of the wicket, was 118 not out following his first-innings 147.

The 23-year-old had not scored a hundred in his 11 previous Tests.

Victory saw West Indies level the three-match series at 1-1 as they recorded their first Test win in England since 2000.

It was all the more impressive given that just over a week earlier they'd suffered an innings and 209-run defeat inside three days in the first Test at Edgbaston.

This was also, excluding fixtures against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, just the West Indies' fourth Test win away from home in 88 matches spanning 20 years.

Together with opener Kraigg Brathwaite (95), Hope put on 144 after the pair had shared a first-innings stand of 246, with Brathwaite making 134.

- 'Fight and belief' -

"I've just been told I was the first man to score a century in both first-class innings at Headingley," Hope said on BBC Radio's Test Match Special. "I'm just pleased to get the win.

"We're Test cricketers for a reason, we have the fight, belief and players to do it."

Meanwhile West Indies captain Jason Holder insisted he'd never lost faith in his players.

"I always believed in this group," Holder told Sky Sports.

West Indies' win would have been even more emphatic had they not dropped several catches which amounted to a total of 238 runs.

They resumed on five without loss after England captain Joe Root had declared late on Monday with England 490 for eight in their second innings.

Only Australia, with 404 for three back in 1948, had made more to win in the fourth innings of a Headingley Test.

"Shai Hope played exceptionally well," said Root.

"The declaration was a positive thing to do, we want to win Test matches, when you get the opportunity to try and win you take it."

England, in common with the West Indies, dropped catches and normally reliable first slip Alastair Cook floored Brathwaite, yet to add to his overnight four, off Stuart Broad.

But Broad did reduce the West Indies from 46 for none to 53 for two.

He had Kieran Powell (23) fending to Ben Stokes at fourth slip and then ran out Kyle Hope for the unluckiest of ducks when he dropped a return catch from a Brathwaite drive, only to deflect the ball onto the stumps at the bowler's end as the non-striker backed up.

It was not until the stroke of tea that West Indies lost their third wicket when Brathwaite edged off-spinner Moeen Ali to Stokes at slip.

Brathwaite's 180-ball innings, including 12 fours, meant the opener had batted for more than 10 hours in the match.

The new ball was taken but two deliveries later Jermaine Blackwood, with the Headingley floodlights shining bright on a gloomy day, lofted England spearhead James Anderson, who failed to add to his tally of 497 Test wickets on Tuesday, for a stunning straight six.

Shai Hope's single off Broad completed a superb century off 175 balls, including 13 fours, as he became the first West Indian to score hundreds in both innings of a Test in England since Gordon Greenidge at Old Trafford in 1976.

England's plight was summed up when Cook dropped Shai Hope on 106.

Blackwood, who uppercut Broad for six, tried to win the match in style but, having removed his helmet, he was stumped off Ali for 41, having put on a vital 74 with Shai Hope.

Instead it was Shai Hope who struck the winning runs with a legside flick for two off Chris Woakes.

Source: AFP