Alastair Cook’s long overdue 26th Test hundred saved England from complete collapse as his side reached 240-7 at stumps on the opening day of the third and final Test against the West Indies.

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Captain Cook was dismissed for a painstaking 105 off the last ball of the day at the Kensington Oval.

His determined innings, compiled with exceptional care over 315 minutes and occupying 266 deliveries, was also the 100th Test century scored on the Caribbean’s oldest international ground, dating back to the first-ever Test match in the region, against England in 1930.

Having seen his side reduced to 38 for three in the morning session after winning the toss and choosing to bat, Cook displayed great resolve, stroking 12 boundaries on a pitch offering some encouragement to the faster bowlers.

He put on 98 for the fifth wicket with Moeen Ali in mid-afternoon in what was the only period of play that England dominated. That partnership ended when Ali was run out for 58 for the second time in as many innings in the series.

As Cook closed in late in the day on the landmark that had eluded him for 35 previous innings and almost two years, he lost all-rounder Ben Stokes to a catch at gully off Shannon Gabriel operating with the second new ball.

However an on-driven boundary off the same bowler took him to the landmark, only for a careless shot in the final over of the day to bring about his demise via a catch to Denesh Ramdin off part-time off-spinner Marlon Samuels.

Jason Holder dispelled doubts about his fitness with two important wickets at the start of the day after Gabriel exploited Jonathan Trott’s vulnerability to fast, shortpitched bowling.

Playing on his home ground, Holder uprooted Gary Ballance’s middle-stump and then induced an indeterminate prod from Ian Bell with a slower delivery to take a sharp catch off his own bowling.