Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Powell believe the drawn third Test against England was one of West Indies' finest ever team performances.
Windies duo reflect on Antigua 'victory'
Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Powell believe the drawn third Test against England was one of West Indies' finest team performances in recent memory.
The pair were instrumental in saving a defeat which would have seen the five-game series tied at 1-1 heading into the fourth Test in Barbados.
Sarwan led from the front in the second innings with his 13th Test hundred - a defiant 106 - and Powell stood firm with tail-end partner Fidel Edwards for 10 overs to prevent England claiming the elusive 10th wicket.
And 28-year-old Sarwan, who has scored 307 runs in the series thus far, has hailed the draw as one of his most pleasing results since making his international debut in 2000.
Fought back
"We knew we were up against it from the very first day when England got away to a pretty good start," he said.
"We knew how important it was to bat and occupy the crease. For me to bat and occupy the crease, and get a century was very pleasing.
"This Test match was up there for me. It is something that I will hold very dear to me the way we fought back.
"With two Test matches left, and the position in which we were, I know many people thought we would have lost it. But for us, this result is a victory."
Powell paid tribute to Sarwan after he and Shivnarine Chanderpaul shared a 148-run stand for the fourth wicket to put West Indies in a position to draw the match.
Chaos
"When we saw the way Sars and Shiv batted in the second innings, there was total consensus from everybody else in our team that everyone that came behind them had to make sure we did not let them down," he said.
"Sarwan played a brilliant innings, and for us to back it up, we needed to draw this Test match."
He added: "We won the Test in Jamaica with a day to spare. We did not expect it, but we did, and coming into this game, Tuesday was the only day we had practice. After that it was total chaos.
"But we came to the Antigua Recreation Ground for this Test, and we toiled away. But this result has proven to us that if we go out there and fight every day, we can do the job."
Sarwan is now hoping West Indies can push on and wrap up the series with victory in the fourth Test at the Kensington Oval on Thursday.
"It is important that we get ourselves mentally ready and physically too, because I think this game took a lot out of us," he said.
"The good thing is that we have a couple days to rest and to regroup, and get ourselves ready for Barbados.
"It is important that we do not find ourselves in this situation again or else it might be difficult to get out of it again, so it is important that we go into that Test and try to hold the upper hand from early."
