England faces defeat at home ground by West Indies

The West Indies took a 1-0 lead in the series by defeating England by four wickets in the first Test after a four-month hiatus in the cricket due to the coronavirus.

Acting England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first.

Stokes scored 43 and Jose Butler 35 runs and they were the standout batsmen for England while West Indies’ Jason Holder took 6)and Shannon Gabriel took 4  wickets.

West Indies scored 318 in their first innings, followed by Kraigg Brathwaite (65), Shane Dowrich (61) and Roston Chase (47).

West Indies took a 114-run lead in the first innings, England’s Stokes took 4 and James Anderson took 3 wickets.

England had consolidated their position in the second innings thanks to the responsible batting of the opening batsmen, but due to the excellent spell of Shannon Gabriel, which took 4 wickets for 252 runs, the entire team of England piled up 313 runs.

Zak Crawley (76), Dom Sibley (50), Ben Stokes (46) and Rory Burns (42) were the successful batsmen for England in the second innings.

West Indies’ Shannon Gabriel bowled well in the second innings and took five wickets.

Due to an early innings deficit, England gave the West Indies a 200-run target for victory but their innings got off to a disastrous start.

Kraigg Brathwaite returned to the pavilion for 7 runs while Shamarh Brooks ‘ innings ended on the same score while John Campbell returned to the pavilion due to injury.

When the score reached 27, Jofra Archer also returned Shea Hope to the pavilion after which the West Indies lost three wickets.

Jermaine Blackwood came to Roston Chase’s side and both players completed the century for the team, but at the same stage, Joffra Archer gave his team a surprise by ending Roston Chase’s innings of 37 runs.

From the other end, Blackwood persevered and was accompanied by Shane Dowrich, both of whom put their team on the verge of victory with a partnership of 68 runs.

Blackwood played brilliant innings of 95 runs but his courage was rewarded a few steps away from victory and Stokes also returned to the pavilion to give his team its sixth victory.

By then, however, it was too late and the West Indies easily scored and won the match by 4 wickets.

Gabriel was declared the best player of the match for his excellent bowling and taking 9 wickets in the match.

West Indies have taken a 1-0 lead in the series and the second Test match of the series will be played in Manchester from July 16.