Da Silva thrives on the banter

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC):

JOSHUA DA SILVA said Friday the banter with frustrated England players helped fuel his gutsy unbeaten century which put West Indies in front in the decisive third Test.

The 23-year-old struck an even 100 in nearly six hours off 255 balls with 10 fours, blunting England’s attack after West Indies were in danger of collapse at 95 for six after lunch on the second day of the contest at the National Stadium here.

During the final session of play on day two, Da Silva was often seen having verbal exchanges with combative all-rounder Ben Stokes.

“I’m just batting balls. When I bat balls runs will come in the end so I’m not too fazed about how my strike rate looks,” the Trinidadian told reporters afterwards.

“Stokesy and those guys got pretty upset with me but I’m just batting, I’m just having fun and at the end of the day. I’m putting runs on the board for the team, which is most important.

“That fuels me. I love getting talk and all of that. It makes me want to go and make more runs, it makes me want to bat longer. I just love seeing them frustrated but I love the talk. It fuels me.”

Da Silva’s knock steered West Indies to the close on 297, a lead of 93 runs, on Saturday’s third day.

He put on 33 for the seventh wicket with Kyle Mayers (28), 49 for the eighth wicket with Alzarri Joseph (28), 68 in a ninth-wicket stand with Kemar Roach (25), and 52 with last man out, Jayden Seales (13).

Before the performance on day three, Da Silva pointed to a goal which his West Indies side almost achieved.

“We need as much as we can get. If we get a hundred, 150 [run lead], as long as we bat long I’m sure runs will come so we’re just trying our best to bat as long as we can,” Da Silva had said.

The pitch once again produced variable bounce, with some balls staying low but others getting generous lift, and accounting for a few of the dismissals.

However, Da Silva said the pitch remained a good one for batting, with conditions becoming far easier once the ball got softer.

“It’s pretty flat. It’s very nice for batting with the odd one that is staying a bit low. The new ball does a little bit but other than that it seems a pretty good wicket,” he said.

“I expect it to [deteriorate] definitely. Not many are staying low, the odd one is. So it’s still a very good batting wicket so we’re going to try and get as many as we can.

“It seems like a wicket to bowl straight [on]. With the new ball we can look to get our slips involved but other than that it looks like we can use the pitch.”

The century was Da Silva’s first in Tests.