Zak Crawley backs England to take 10 wickets and win first Test against the odds

England face a huge fight to win the opening Test match of the summer after a dramatic late collapse left the West Indies favourites to win at the Ageas Bowl.

Five wickets after tea left England 284 for eight at the close, a lead of only 170 runs. Zak Crawley, who top scored with 76, admitted that England were at risk of losing Ben Stokes’ first Test as captain.

"It should be tight if we bowl well tomorrow and hopefully get a few more runs,” Crawley said. “If we can get above a 200-run lead that would be very nice and give us a great chance of winning the game.”

Crawley said England believe the wicket in Southampton is behaving more unpredictably, giving them confidence that they can defend their target when they are bowled out.

“At the end there you could see the ball was doing quite a bit,” he said. “They bowled quite well but the pitch was offering a bit of up-and-down bounce, so we'll work with that all day tomorrow and we've definitely got the bowlers to take 10 wickets on there.

"It's definitely two-paced and with the new ball it started to bounce a bit more. With the old ball it kept low rather than bounce, but the new ball started to bounce and take the gloves which we saw quite a bit. There was obviously a bit of nip there at times to get a couple of key wickets for the West Indies at the end."

With Joe Root set to return for the second Test, which begins on Thursday at Old Trafford, Joe Denly now faces being dropped to ensure that Crawley retains his berth in the side. Denly scored 29 before falling to Roston Chase. He has now not exceeded 50 in his past 11 Test innings.

Crawley added a partnership of 98 with stand-in skipper Stokes, and admitted that England had thrown away a fine position. England were 249 for three before losing five for 30 to the second new ball.

“It was a real shame to lose those wickets quickly,” said Crawley. “When I was batting with Ben it felt like we were getting on top of the game.

“The lead was never that big and we knew they would come back strong at us with the second new ball and they did, but for a time we felt on top.

“It was massively disappointing to go so soon after Ben, especially with the other wickets falling after us. When Ben got out it was clear I had to bat through to the end so to get out the next over was extremely disappointing.”

With 98 overs due to be bowled on the final day, after rain delays earlier in the Test, and good weather forecast, a positive result either way seems certain.