England vs West Indies 1st Test: Jason Holder praises bowlers after victory

West Indies skipper Jason Holder has praised his side's bowlers after their four-wicket win over England in the first Test.

"It was a long hard toil and a hard-fought day for West Indies, and a day that definitely went in our favour at the back end. The reason I say that it was the best day for me is down to the fact that every single time I asked for effort from those bowlers, no one said: no, I can't, I'm too tired. They just all kept running in," ESPNcricinfo quoted Holder as saying.

Holder bowled brilliantly during England's first innings, picking up six wickets and helping the visitors restrict England to 204 runs. Apart from Holder, Shannon Gabriel also bowled well.

 

West Indies, in their first innings, scored 318 runs with the help of Kraigg Brathwaite and Shane Dowrich's half-centuries.

England then scored 313 runs in their second innings, setting a target of 200 runs for the Holder-led side.

Holder admitted that the 'game started to look a little bit less likely' for them to win when Ben Stokes and Zack Crawley put up a good partnership in the second innings.

"At that stage when Stokesy and Zak [Crawley] were batting, the game started to look a little bit less likely for us to win. We knew we couldn't lose - we backed ourselves not to lose - but we wanted to win the game, and we knew how important it was for us to win," he said.

Jermaine Blackwood played a knock of 95, helping his side win the match on day five on Sunday.

"Yesterday's effort was by far the best effort I've seen from this group. And not only the bowlers - the fielders kept running round, getting through the overs, and we all kept our energy up right throughout the day," Holder added.

With this victory, West Indies have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.

The second Test between England and West Indies will begin on July 16.