Root’s century leads England to welcome win on West Indies tour

Yorkshireman Root’s unbeaten 104 underpinned 290-8 – a total in which Ben Stokes (58) was the other significant contributor – and then Tredwell (3-39) got to work.

The Vice Chancellor’s XI were far from done with, however, as Kyle Corbin’s sustained hitting in a 98-ball century kept the hosts just about within range of a shock victory at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Corbin (105) hit nine fours and five sixes in his hundred, but in the end just fell short as England earned some respite at last in what has been an unrelenting winter of discontent to date.

Tredwell needed just one delivery to give them their first breakthrough after Adrian Barath and Chadwick Walton, like England’s Alex Hales and Luke Wright before them, shared a half-century opening stand.

After he doubled up with his second victim in his next over, England appeared to be circling for a slow kill.

But Corbin and Devon Thomas made them sweat in a sixth-wicket stand of 103 in under 12 overs before Stuart Broad’s team just about managed to get this short tour off to a heartening start.

England appeared set at several stages for a bigger total, after being put in on a pitch which favoured spin throughout.

They had a fine platform at 
170-3 in the 30th over thanks to stands of 58 for the first wicket and then 71 for the third between Sheffield batsman Root and Stokes.

But three wickets for the addition of only 23, two lbw to young leg-spinner Akeem Dewar, halted mid-innings progress.

Root’s all-Yorkshire stand of 62 with Tim Bresnan was a telling shift of momentum, however, and he completed his 103-ball hundred in the final over with a reverse-flick off Joseph for his ninth boundary.

Opener Lahiru Thirimanne and bowler Lasith Malinga were the stars of the show as Sri Lanka claimed an exciting 12-run victory over Pakistan in the opening match of the Asia Cup in Fatullah, Bangladesh.