'Elated' Hope revels in West Indies' fight

Shai Hope shrugged the monkey off his back with a maiden Test century and then brutally booted it from the room with a second as he led West Indies to a thrilling victory - their first in England since 2000 - fulfilling the promise that led Clive Lloyd to present him with his cap as a 21-year-old two years ago.

Hope became the first batsman to score centuries in both innings of a first-class match at Headingley, and the first West Indies player to perform the feat in a Test in England since Gordon Greenidge in 1976, as he helped his side pull off the second-highest chase at the ground.

It was Hope's partnerships with Kraigg Brathwaite - the two Barbadians have batted together since their early teens - in both innings that provided the foundation for a West Indies victory that was made all the more remarkable in coming just a week after their innings defeat in three days at Edgbaston.

But Hopes was as cool in victory as he had been at the crease, seemingly unaware of his record in his post-match interview on Sky and exuding cool during the following press conference.

"It was just clear mind, clear game plan," Hope said. "I knew what I wanted to do in the middle and I just executed as best I can.

"It was mainly about winning the game, especially after the loss at Edgbaston. Knowing how much the fellas really wanted this win, you could see the fight and belief in the dressing room on the faces of the guys.

"I feel elated. We've worked hard as a team and we're pleased to get over the line. I am a professional cricketer for a reason so I always believe in myself. We fought hard throughout the game, so we needed to do well with the bat."

Hope and Brathwaite came to the crease in the first innings with West Indies at 35 for 3 and then in the second innings at 53 for 2, steadying their side on both occasions before steering them towards victory with partnerships of 246 and 144. But while Brathwaite has shown his stubbornness at the crease in previous Tests, Hope's twin centuries, following a lean run in his first two years of Test cricket, encapsulated the dramatic turnaround by a side that was publicly derided by former England and West Indies greats after the first Test.

"I said if he gets one (hundred), he'll get plenty - well he got one and he's got another," West Indies coach Stuart Law. "He's been going through the form dip but he's looked in good nick."

The stinging criticism from former players such as Curtly Ambrose and Geoffrey Boycott, who described the current team as the worst West Indies Test side he had seen, clearly struck a nerve with Jason Holder's men in a similar way to Colin Graves' infamous dismissal of them as "mediocre" ahead of England's 2015 tour to the Caribbean.

"It did something," Holder said. "We had plenty of time to reflect, being in Birmingham three days. Each and every member of the team felt it, we were really hard on ourselves but it wasn't a situation where we had to panic, it was a time for us to find solutions.

"We sat down as a team and we had a really, really good meeting after the Edgbaston Test match and felt from there I could see most of the guys understanding a lot more about what was required of them and where we needed to be in terms of coming into this Test match and performing."

West Indies now head to Lord's for a decider few would have foreseen with a confidence borne out of a victory that came despite dropped catches that allowed England back into the game after conceding a 169-run deficit in the first innings.

"We have to be confident," Hope said. "We're Test cricketers for a reason and we know we have the ability to perform. We've got to make sure we put that almost perfect performance together because it's very unlikely you play that perfect game but just try to string as many good consistent performances as possible in one game to get that win."

"For many of us it's a childhood dream to play a Test match at Lord's and to come into Lord's with a chance of winning the series," Holder said. "Remember the first press conference we had people asked what are our chances. I gave us the same chances that England probably give themselves to win the series and that's what we set out to do. It doesn't always happen that way but the main thing for us is to keep progressing as a side and I think we're showing that."