England’s hopes of banishing their post-Ashes blues in Antigua received off to a rocky begin because the West Indies lowered a reworked prime order to 57 for 4 on the primary morning of the primary Take a look at.
Precisely seven weeks since they concluded a depressing tour of Australia with the newest in a string of batting collapses in Hobart, Joe Root led a much-changed facet into some acquainted bother on the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. The much-discussed ‘pink ball reset’ was off to a sluggish begin.
Kemar Roach landed two main blows, dismissing debutant opener Alex Lees for simply 4 to proceed England’s travails on the head of the innings earlier than clear bowling Root for 13 providing no shot.
Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence additionally failed to carry the fort as the house assault produced a stirring effort, leaving Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow to rebuild.
Root had the benefit of a successful the toss on what seemed an inexpensive batting monitor, however England’s struggles to submit massive totals are deep-set.
An England XI exhibiting six modifications from their earlier outing joined their opponents in carrying black armbands, with Shane Warne, Rod Marsh and Sonny Ramadhin remembered, and each groups took a knee earlier than the primary ball.
Lees received off the mark with a boundary from his fifth ball in worldwide cricket, squirting to 3rd man, however that was pretty much as good because it received for the left-hander. Roach set him up with a sequence of away swingers then introduced one again in to win an lbw.
It was a high-class lesson for the newcomer, and an early setback for his facet. Crawley had began with an excellent on drive for 4 and a punch by means of the covers however his keep was brief and candy.
Aiming a lavish drive at 20-year-old Jayden Seales, he allowed the bat to show in his fingers and despatched an inside-edge by means of to the alert keeper Josh Da Silva.
Root’s transfer again as much as quantity three – geared toward bringing solidity to the line-up – didn’t go to plan, arriving far sooner than he would have favored and leaving in related haste. He survived an opportunity when he flashed Roach by means of Jermaine Blackwood’s dive within the cordon, solely to lose his off bail to a powerful show of precision bowling from the Bajan.
Withdrawing his bat after his earlier temptation, he noticed the ball zip again within the good quantity. Root wanted to test behind him to substantiate his destiny, entire Roach stood immobile on the prime of his observe by means of, basking within the second.
Jason Holder took care of Dan Lawrence, who made a busy 20 earlier than nicking to Blackwood, and didn’t concede a single run from his 5 overs.
Stokes and Bairstow ensured no additional losses, however took simply 10 runs from a mixed 74 deliveries.
Kaynak: briturkish.com