Jonny Bairstow was bullish about England's prospects of fighting back after a punishing start to the second Test, insisting the pitch in Antigua still has more tricks up its sleeve.
The West Indies carried over their dominance from last week's victory in Barbados, dismissing the tourists for 187 after winning the toss on a green surface.
Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel were in their element as balls intermittently exploded off a length, the pace pair sharing seven wickets and inflicting a series of hefty blows on the visiting batsmen.
Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Ben Foakes were all rapped hard on the gloves, with Moeen Ali wearing a Gabriel bouncer on the helmet.
Moeen (60) and Bairstow (52) both showed run-scoring was not impossible, while a wicketless 21-over spell before stumps – during which the Windies made 30 without loss – put the pressure firmly back on the English attack heading in to day two.
Bairstow did not criticise the track, believing it holds the key to his side's comeback.
"I don't see there being any problem with the pitch, both teams have to bat on it," he said.
England are all out for 187! Moeen Ali and Ben Foakes led a recovery but the Windies pacers have done the damage again. Kemar Roach is the star man, collecting figures of 4/30. #WIvENG LIVE ➡️ https://t.co/mNz3BBasXx pic.twitter.com/XFPPFWYXSI — ICC (@ICC) January 31, 2019
"With the skills we have in our locker and the experience we have I'm looking forward to seeing what the guys come out with.
"There's a reason why they won toss and bowled. Normally in Test cricket you see people winning the toss and batting so there's obviously a ploy there from them, they know the pitch was probably a bit soft.
"There's a ridge that I don't think is going anywhere and there's a difference in grass about halfway down, where the ball was bouncing from, and that's definitely not going anywhere.
An excellent counter-attacking 5️⃣0️⃣ from @jbairstow21! 👏 Scorecard: https://t.co/r7kUH0dkZ5#WIvENG pic.twitter.com/UOUMCo0jKY — England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 31, 2019
"That's encouraging for our guys coming in tomorrow, because if we can hit that ridge we saw the excess bounce."
Asked what a reasonable first-innings score would be in such trying conditions, Bairstow offered: "I have no idea. You genuinely can't tell what a par score would be until close tomorrow."
Bairstow was back in his favoured role as wicketkeeper during the evening session, Ben Foakes having suffered bruising on his right hand during his dismissal at the hands of Gabriel.
Ben Foakes is receiving treatment for a bruised right hand, with Jonny Bairstow currently keeping wicket. Scorecard: https://t.co/R87K8CUQeI#WIvENG pic.twitter.com/gPD6Yyv7nN — England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 31, 2019
The medical staff will assess the Surrey keeper overnight, with Bairstow ready to step in if required.
"He just has a bruised hand, that's all I know," he said.
"He'll put ice on it this evening and see in the morning, hopefully it's absolutely fine."
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Rory Dollard, Press Association Cricket Correspondent, Antigua');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'c3655c2f-3707-4b2b-81f3-f36e7b04c315');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:cricket');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Bairstow bullish about England chances despite chastening opening day'});
