West Indies turned what looked likely to be a nail-biting chase into a canter over the line as the evening shadows enveloped Kensington Oval to secure a hugely notable shared series. Darren Bravo and Jermaine Blackwood, both reining themselves in from their natural preference to attack when the game was in the balance, formed the decisive partnership of 108 for the fifth wicket.
Bravo played with great maturity for 82 off 148 balls, taking West Indies to the brink of victory with a flourish of boundaries only to pick out mid-off with four needed. Blackwood, given a life on 4, remained unbeaten and completed an outstanding Test - and productive series - by showing levels of restraint that had not always been on show at other stages of the three matches and lofted the winning shot down the ground. It was the stand-out period of batting in a game dominated by the bowlers, although showed up much of the batting that preceded it.
They came together with the innings teetering on 80 for 4 when Shivnarine Chanderpaul, looking a shadow of the player who has carried West Indies for so long, dragged on to James Anderson's first ball after tea. But with an eye to the future, it could be very significant that West Indies held their nerve without a major contribution from Chanderpaul. It might not be the end for him yet, but it can't be far away.
Moments after his departure, with West Indies 87 for 4, came a crucial moment. Blackwood, in a moment of hot-headedness that would not become a hallmark of a very calm innings, charged at Joe Root, had a mighty swing and missed, but Jos Buttler could not gather the stumping. It was the last clear-cut chance that England had before the match was gone as Blackwood and Bravo became increasingly confident once the target was below three figures.
Bravo has often been accused, with some justification, of too many lapses in concentration and there were moments in this innings when he could have succumbed but impressively battled through. Before tea, the score froze as England strung together six consecutive maidens - a period which brought the wicket of Marlon Samuels - and then when he moved into the 30s he was offered regular reminders by Buttler of his propensity to fall in such a position but instead he eased to 116-ball half-century.
Occasionally he came out of his shell, including hammering the first ball after tea from Root for six then twice launching Moeen Ali straight down the ground as the target came into view. The first of Bravo's sixes off Moeen had been proceeded by 13 coming from a James Anderson over (although two of the boundaries were byes and leg byes) which signalled there would be no final twist.
The result is a huge tick for Phil Simmons at the end of his first series in charge. It is only six months since West Indies pulled out of the tour of India, which was followed by a poor World Cup - although better than England's. History tells us that problems are often not far away but, barring the final day in Grenada, the fight they have shown in this series offers some hope.
Quite what Colin Graves, the incoming ECB chairman who has been at this Test, will make of it remains to be seen. He branded West Indies 'mediocre' before the series and said anything less than a series victory would bring serious questions. A few people may be sitting uneasily on the flight back to England.
Alastair Cook's job is unlikely to be under threat - helped by his first-innings hundred - but he will need to explain England's collective batting in this match. They had the best of conditions after winning the toss but could only muster 257 and the way West Indies secured the win added much kudos to their bowling display to keep England to 123, as they added 84 more on the third morning in 21 overs.
Cook was severely hampered in the field as he tried to defend 192 by the struggles of Moeen. Although Moeen removed Kraigg Brathwaite, courtesy of another fine slip catch from Chris Jordan, he again offered up far too many short deliveries. Cook could not trust him and was again forced to turn back to Anderson. The way West Indies' attacked Moeen is something he will have to be prepared for during the Ashes.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND 1st Innings 257
WEST INDIES 1st Innings 189
ENGLAND 2nd Innings
(overnight 37 for five)
*A Cook c Brathwaite b Gabriel*4
I Trott lbw b Taylor*9
G Balance c Bravo b Permaul*23
I Bell lbw b Taylor*0
J Root c Bravo b Holder*1
M Ali b Permaul*8
B Stokes c Chanderpaul b Permaul*33
+J Buttler not out*35
C Jordan lbw b Holder*2
S Broad b Holder*0
J Anderson lbw b Taylor*2
Extras (b4, lb2, nb1)*7
TOTAL (all out, 42.1 overs)*123
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Trott), 2-13 (Cook), 3-18 (Bell), 4-28 (Root), 5-39 (Ali), 6-62 (Ballance), 7-95 (Stokes), 8-98 (Jordan), 9-98 (Broad), 10-123 (Anderson)
Bowling: Taylor 11.1-1-33-3, Gabriel 7-4-16-1, Holder 9-3-15-3, Permaul 11-3-43-3, Samuels 4-1-10-0.
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings (target: 192)
K Brathwaite c Jordan b Moeen Ali*25
S Hope lbw b Jordan*9
D Bravo c Broad b Stokes*82
M Samuels b Broad*20
S Chanderpaul b Anderson*0
J Blackwood not out*47
*+D Ramdin not out*0
Extras (b5, lb6)*11
TOTAL (5 wkts, 62.4 overs)*194
Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Hope), 2-35 (Brathwaite), 3-70 (Samuels), 4-80 (Chanderpaul), 5-188 (Bravo)
Bowling: Anderson 13-4-35-1, Broad 13-5-29-1, Jordan 11-5-24-1, Moeen 12.4-1-54-1, Root 8-4-16-0, Stokes 5-0-25-1.
Result: West Indies won by five wickets.
Series: Three-match series drawn 1-1.
Man-of-the-Match: Jermaine Blackwood.
Man-of-the-Series: Jimmy Anderson.
Toss: England.
Umpires: Billy Bowden, Bruce Oxenford; TV � Steve Davis.
CMC tm/ed/15
CAPTION: Darren Bravo was prepared to grind runs out, getting 82 to lead Windies to victory. Photo: CricInfo.
CAPTION: Stuart Broad loses his off stump to Jason Holder, as Windies march to victory.
