Fast bowler Stuart Broad applauded the efforts of Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, after they ensured England reached the end of the second day in Grenada without losing a wicket.
Cook (37 not out) and Trott (32 not out) bounced back from a poor first Test against West Indies to take England within 225 runs of their hosts at the culmination of Wednesday's play at the National Cricket Stadium.
Trott (0 and 4) had a terrible return to top-class cricket in the opening Test, while captain Cook (11, 13) also struggled.
But after Broad (4-61) played a key role in bowling West Indies out for just 299 at tea, England's opening batsmen survived the new ball to put the visitors in a strong position at 74-0 at stumps.
"Not losing a wicket today with the new ball was massive, moving forward in the game," Broad told ecb.co.uk.
"The new ball seems the hardest time to bat so if you get through that you can really cash in. So it's great to have two opening batsmen still out there when the new ball is 20 overs old.
"Our job is to try and bat for a day and a half, two days, because if we do that we put ourselves in a position to win the Test."
West Indies started Wednesday at 188-5 but after Marlon Samuels (103) scored his sixth Test century, the home side's innings fell apart.
James Anderson ended Samuel's stint at the crease for his second wicket of the innings, but Broad was critical - claiming the next three scalps as he regularly broke the 140km/h barrier.
Denesh Ramdin (31), Jason Holder (22) and Kemar Roach (1) all fell to Broad, who credited a change in his technique for his improved pace.
"I was getting a bit too tight in to the stumps, which technically for me means I can't get my hips through and drive through, and a lot of my weight falls off to the side," he said.
"So a slight technical change allowed me to stay a bit wider on the crease and my whole body and momentum goes through."