West Indies fight back against England to put a whitewash on hold – as Gus Atkinson dazzles with the ball but England look ropey with the bat on the opening day of the Third Test

England’s hopes of a victory, which many had regarded as a formality, were dented by three late wickets as West Indies fought back on a chaotic day at Edgbaston.

On a day when the West Indians batsmen failed to take advantage of the favourable conditions in Birmingham, their bowlers gave them hope that they could avoid the cover-up that many regarded as a formality.

Four wickets for Gus Atkinson and three on his own ground for Chris Woakes had restricted the tourists to 282 – only Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph reduced England to 38 for three as the shadows lengthened.

When play resumes on Saturday morning with Ollie Pope and Joe Root on the goal line, we are in for an exciting contest, not least because the pitch is already showing signs of irregular bounce.

For the first 23 deliveries of England’s reply, it looked like business as usual as Zak Crawley drove, pulled and flicked three fours in four balls off Jayden Seales. The scoreboard had jumped to 29, more than a tenth of the West Indian’s total summarily disposed of.

Chris Woakes (centre) also took three wickets on his home ground, in a solid opening session for the England bowlers

But the final delivery of the over was wider, luring Crawley into a drive that flew to Jason Holder at second slip. Before England had time to ask whether that was good bowling or complacent batting, Ben Duckett had played on to Alzarri Joseph.

And it was 31 to three when night watchman Mark Wood touched Seales and was hit low by a falling Holder. The Hollies Stand, which had been in mourning moments before as the beer and boundaries worked their magic, fell silent. The West Indians were jubilant.

The three late wickets cast a more favourable light on their efforts with the bat, after Kraigg Brathwaite won an important toss on a typically slow but authentic Edgbaston surface.

At 76-0 and with lunch approaching, Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis had extended their two half-century stands in Nottingham, which had been forgotten in the chaos of West Indies’ fourth-innings collapse.

Now, however, they were in danger of messing it up again as five wickets in nine overs before and after lunch undone their morning’s work.

The cascade began when Louis Atkinson failed and was caught behind the ball for 26 innings, maintaining his remarkable record of batting at least an hour in every inning this summer without reaching 30.

Kirk McKenzie fed Atkinson three offside fours in four balls before Mark Wood blasted a 91mph ball through his defence to give the West Indies number 3 25 runs in the series at an average of five.

And from the last ball of the session, Alick Athanaze inexplicably tried to take a short ball from Atkinson, but only managed to drag it onto his stumps. It was naive cricket.

While Brathwaite was still there, with his first half-century of the summer to his name, West Indies had hopes. But on 61 he fluttered at a leg-side delivery from Wood and accepted the catch-behind verdict without hesitation.

Chris Woods made a mess of Trinidadian Jayden Seales’ stumps before England came into bat

The tourists came back and knocked out the English opening batsmen before the end of the match

West Indies’ response could prevent an expected whitewash in the third Test at Edgbaston

However, replays suggested that his hand may have been off the bat when the ball struck the glove, prompting one of the most famous moments from this pitch: in 2005, Steve Harmison had removed Michael Kasprowicz in similar circumstances to secure a two-run win for England in the second Ashes Test. DRS did not exist in those days; Brathwaite had no such excuse.

And when Kavem Hodge, a centurion in the first innings at Nottingham, failed to make a single stroke against a Woakes ball that held its line and bounced off stump, West Indies had lost five for 39.

Had Holder or wicketkeeper Josh Da Silva followed quickly, they might not have managed to reach 200 for the fourth time in five innings. But both players put the circumstances into perspective during a stand of 109, with Stokes having to set funky fields and Wood having to charge in from around the wicket.

Ultimately it was Woakes, with his improving rhythm, who made the breakthrough when Da Silva chased a wide ball and was caught behind a ball that travelled just under fifty yards.

Woakes then had Alzarri Joseph chip to Ben Stokes on mid-off for 15, before Atkinson threw the ball of the day to the well-placed Holder. An unplayable ball that headed towards leg before flying back to hit the off-stump.

Atkinson then bounced Gudakesh Motie out with the help of a smart catch from Joe Root, diving behind Jamie Smith, who threatened to block his view. And Bashir ended a last-wicket stand of 23 with the help of another good catch, this time by Crawley at long-on.

But it was Atkinson’s performance, witnessed by his father Ed, that gave England the greatest satisfaction. There were concerns that three consecutive matches would be too much for a fast bowler still trying to find his way at Test level.

Instead, he bowled more overs – 20 – than any of his team-mates, taking his embryonic England record to 20 wickets for 16 in just two and a half matches.

“He makes it look very easy, doesn’t he?” said Woakes. “He’s got the ability to swing the ball and a good wobble seam, and he’s got some pace behind him, so he can use short ball ploy. He looks like an all-round bowler.”

The speculation after Nottingham was that England might rest Atkinson and look to Dillon Pennington for the first time. But Stokes wants to get his team used to the feeling of winning again, and that meant going with his best team.

Atkinson complimented England, but West Indies reminded England that even their best team cannot be good enough.