The wait is finally over. The much-awaited day has finally come as international cricket is all set to resume once again after-action around the world came to a halt in March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. England and West Indies are all set to lock horns against each other in the first of the three-match Test series at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton to kickstart international cricket.
If the pandemic does not end anytime soon, this series is likely to become the template for other countries to follow to play international cricket. The series will take place behind closed doors and in bio-secure stadiums. Players and officials will live at the on-site hotels at each ground and be screened daily for symptoms and regularly tested for COVID-19 based throughout the match.
The ICC has also confirmed teams will be able to substitute any player who shows signs of COVID-19 during a Test match. Saliva ban, non-neutral umpires, extra DRS reviews are some of the other changes that will be seen in the series as cricket attempts to get back on track.
The experience will be different for the players as well as fans in these testing times but there is no denying that a good contest between the bat and ball is all that the cricket world is hoping for.
It’s not as bad as it looks 🤞😂
Good morning from the Ageas Bowl! 🏏 pic.twitter.com/m64Q5uxpT3
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 8, 2020
Both the teams will be short on match experience although they enter the game on the back of an intra-squad warm-up game. West Indies had stunned England in the home series last year and will be looking to replicate that performance again while the hosts will be eyeing the revenge.
Toss report:
The toss has been delayed due to rain and wet outfield. There’s going to be an early lunch taken at 12.30 local (5 pm IST). It’ll be followed by an inspection at 1.10 pm (Local time).
15:00 (IST)08 JUL 2020
Toss Delayed
Not so good news because it has gone dark at the ground and the toss for the first Test has been delayed. Keep your fingers crossed again!
15:34 (IST)
Latest Update from the ground
Covers are coming off in Ageas Bowl, Southampton. It has stopped raining but keep your fingers crossed, please!
15:55 (IST)
Its started again
A typical English weather at the Southampton with rain coming on and off! Here is the latest snap from the Ageas Bowl.
16:54 (IST)
Umpire inspect the ground
18:03 (IST)
After a break of 117 days, the coin has been tossed for the first time where Jos Buttler’s England won the toss and decides to bat first against West Indies.
Playing XI
John Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich(w), Jason Holder(c), Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel.
England 1st Innings – Day 1
After the toss, England’s Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley steps inside the crease to face the West Indies. Rory Burns is on strike. West Indies Kemer Roach will open the attack against England.
Shannon Gabriel strikes! He has the first wicket post resumption. He angles one on the stumps, Sibley lets it go only to hear the stumps being disturbed. He is out for a duck. What a start! ENG- 0/1. After facing 10 balls Sibley left to Pavillion without scoring any.
After two rain delays, the West Indies are back out in the field! After 5 overs, England are 3-1! | Shannon Gabriel is 2-1-2-1.
12 overs down and England are going along nicely since Dom Sibley’s dismissal. England looking steady after a difficult start at 28/1. Burns 15* Denly 13*.
England 1st Innings – Day 2
Gabriel’s Back to Back Wicket:
England continued their batting for the second day where Denly and Rory Burns continue to strike. In a total of 21 overs, the Hosts took 41 runs for a wicket loss.
England tried to form a strong base which was demolished by Gabriel when he sent Denly back to the dressing room after scoring 18 runs off 58 balls.
Zak Crawley joins hand with Rory Burns but soon the same who took Denly’s wicket uproots Rory Burns with an LBW for 30 runs off 85 balls.
After losing top-order players wicket England scored 52 runs and seeks for a steady partnership. Which happens when skipper Ben Stokes gets in the crease with Zak Crawley.
Captains Knock:
Before drinks, England scores 62 runs for losing wickets. Stokes and Zak Crawley continues their innings and moves England to 71 runs where Zak Crawley lose his wicket to Windies skipper for 10 runs scored from 26 balls.
Ollie Pope gets in the crease and joins hands with England skipper soon this partnership too broke when Holder dismiss Ollie Pope for just 12 runs from 13 balls.
The all-time favourite partnership gets in to give a decent score with having a steady partnership. Yes! it’s Jos Buttler and Stokes are in the crease to face the West Indies bowling.
Windies Skipper Continues to Control the Game:
This duo dragged the team to a total of 154 where England skipper Stokes lose his wicket to Windies Skipper for 43 runs off 97 balls.
Soon Buttler too loses his wicket to Holder for 35 runs from 47 balls. After the two major wickets, Jofra Archer joins hands with Dom Bess where England scored 157 runs for 7 wickets.
Soon England starts to collapse and struggled to reach 200 runs as they lose 9 wickets for 174 runs. Anderson and Dom Bess struggled and drags England further.
Dom Bess with back to back boundaries drags England to reach 200. England wind-up for 204 runs as Anderson loses his wicket to Gabriel.
West Indies 1st Innings:
Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell are at the crease. Kraigg Brathwaite is on strike. Anderson will open the attack. Anderson starts with a maiden over.
West Indies starts in a steady manner as the openers maintain their consistency though playing after a long break. England seeks to break this well-settled partnership which was executed by Anderson by dismissing John Campbell for 28 runs off 36 balls.
STUMPS – Day 2:
Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite continue the innings in a controlled form and lifts West Indies to score 57 runs for a wicket loss at the end of day 2.
Watch Day 2 Highlights:
Day 3 – West Indies Batting:
Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite continue to bat in the third day of the 1st Test match. Windies player continues their steady innings in the third day of the test match.
Kraigg Brathwaite with a half-century lifts West Indies to score 108 runs for two wickets loss. Kraigg Brathwaite loses his wicket to Stokes after a triple boundary in an over and returns Pavillion with a score of 65 runs from 125 balls.
At the end of 41 over West Indies scored 140 runs for 3 wickets lost. Roston Chase joins hands with Shamarh Brooks and continues the strike against England. This duo lifts the Windies score to 159 before lunch on the day 3.
Soon after the lunch Shamarh Brooks lose his wicket to Anderson and return Pavillion for 39 runs from 71 balls. Jermaine Blackwood joins hand with Roston Chase and continues to score for West Indies.
Soon Blackwood loses his wicket to Dom Bess when he scored 12 runs off 22 balls. Shane Dowrich joins hands with Roston Chase and made a steady game where they drive West Indies to reach the target.
West Indies took their lead with this partnership and with a steady Game, West Indies scored 235 runs for 5 wickets lose before the tea break.
After the tea break, Roston Chase smashed the first ball of the Anderson to the boundary. Roston Chase lose his wicket to the Anderson when he was just three runs away from his half-century.
The West Indies skipper steps in to show some performance with the bat today but soon left the yard before scoring a double-digit score.
Tic for Tac:
Holder lose his wicket to Stokes when he scored just 5 runs off 14 balls the well-expected play has not been delivered by Windies skipper. At this stage, West Indies scored 281 for 7 wickets lost.
Alzarri Joseph and Dowrich surpassed West Indies to score more than 300 where Dowrich crossed his half-century. Soon this partnership was broken by Stokes by uprooting Alzarri Joseph’s wicket for 18 runs from just 12 balls.
Soon West Indies struggled to make a partnership and loose their all wickets for 318 runs.
100+ runs 1st innings lead for WI
Instances: 165*
Wins: 102
Draws: 59
Losses: 3
WI losing a Test after 100+ runs 1st innings lead
122 vs Eng Port of Spain 1967/68
131 vs Ind Port of Spain 1975/76
133 vs Eng Lord’s 2000
Day 3 Stumps:
England 2nd Innings:
With 114 runs behind England starts their second innings, where their openers Rory Burns and Sibley gets in the crease. Roach opens attack for West Indies with a steady game England scored 15 runs without losing a wicket as the Day 3 ends.
Watch Day 3 highlights:
Day -4 England 2nd Innings:
Roach starts his attack against England in day 4 of the 1st test match. Sibley and Rory Burns pair continue to strike in focusing to give a much-needed partnership.
This duo gave the expected steady game by lifting England’s score to 50 without any loss of wicket. West Indies expected break has been given by Roston Chase by dismissing Rory Burns for 42 runs off 104 balls.
After 40 overs England scored 79 runs for a wicket loss where Denly(1) and Sibley(31) stands in the crease.
Post Lunch: England’s Innings
Soon after the lunch England with a steady strike crossed beyond 100 runs for the same single wicket loss.
After no-ball, BOWLED Sibley lose his wicket to Gabriel in the same over for a half-century. Where England scored 113 runs for 2 wicket loss.
England reached 150 runs for the same two wickets loss at the end of 63rd over. Soon after Denly lose his wicket to Roston Chase and return to Pavillion for 29 runs from 70 balls.
Stokes and Zak Crawley continues their innings where West Indies lost their another review in an attempt to dismiss England captain for the duck.
England’s 200:
Stokes and Zak Crawley dragged England to cross double ton in total. At the end of 77th over England scored 203 runs for 3 wicket loss.
Again Stokes loses his wicket to Holder as in the 1st Innings and return Pavillion for 46 runs for 79 runs.
After hitting a boundary in Alzarri Joseph’s over Zak Crawley lose his wicket to the same person after scoring 76 runs off 127 runs. Where England score 253 runs for 5 wicket loss.
Soon after his wicket England starts to collapse and lose their wicket in a regular interval.
Buttler dismissed by Alzarri Joseph for 9 runs from 13 balls, where England scored 265 runs for 6 wicket loss.
Catch dropped:
After a catch dropped for Dom Bess in Alzarri Joseph’s over West Indies Gabriel took his wicket for just 3 runs from 24 balls.
In the same over Ollie Pope dismissed by Gabriel for 12 runs from 30 balls.
At this stage, England scored 279 runs for 8 wicket loss.
Day 4 Stumps:
At the end of 4th day, England scored 284 runs for 8 wicket loss. Where Jofra Archer(5) and Mark Wood(1) stands in crease and England leads by 170 runs.
Watch Day 4 Highlights:
Day 5 England 2nd Innings:
Alzarri Joseph continues his attack against England where host left out with only 2 wickets to end their 2nd innings. Mark Wood and Jofra Archer dragged England to reach 300 runs.
Gabriel with his aggressive bowling attack dismissed Mark Wood for just 2 runs from 18 balls.
Anderson joins hands with Archer for the last wicket partnership but Archer can’t able to withstand Gabriel’s aggressive bowling attack and England’s 2nd Innings come to an end when they scored 312 runs.
West Indies 2nd Innings:
West Indies need exactly 200 to go 1-0 up in the 3-match series. To defeat this target Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell gets in the crease. Anderson opens the attack against West Indies.
England’s Jofra Archer dismissed Kraigg Brathwaite at an early stage where England scored only 7 runs. Archer’s continues his dominance by dismissing Shamarh Brooks for a duck.
West Indies gets in the struggle as they lose their two top-order batsmen for just 7 runs.
After a continuous five wide Archer ends the 7th Over where England scored 12 runs for 2 Wicket lose.
Roston Chase and Shai Hope joins hand and tries to continue their chase. But England’s Mark Wood scatters their dream by dismissing Shai Hope for 9 runs.
Where England scored 27 runs for 3 wicket loss. This duo plays a strong base for West Indies chase as they dragger West Indies to score 100 runs for the same 3 wickets lost.
An unplayable delivery from Jofra Archer, he’s bowling excellently today. pic.twitter.com/SZ6J8GqF3l
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 12, 2020
After a long struggle, Archer dismissed Roston Chase for 37 runs from 88 balls. With 100 runs to chase for the victory, West Indies Shane Dowrich gets in the ground.
England breaks this partnership by dismissing Dowrich for 20 runs from 37 balls. This duo added 68 runs in total and placed West Indies in a secured spot as England scored 168 runs for 5 wicket loss.
West Indies skipper Holder gets in the crease and continues the game as Windies were near to lead the series by winning this 1st Test.
Blackwood’s 95:
With 7 runs to win the match, Blackwood lost his wicket to Stokes for unbeaten 95 runs from 154 balls. The terrific innings come to an end as Blackwood miss his ton in just 5 runs away.
John Campbell returns to the crease to lead the Windies to victory. West Indies beat England by 4 wickets. Windies skipper Holder and Campbell drags West Indies to victory and makes West Indies lead the series(1-0).
Watch Day 5 Highlights:
Captain’s view:
England Skipper:
Ben Stokes (1/2), on his first Test as England captain: It’s great that we’ve been able to play cricket. We are used to playing in front of a lot more people. It’s been amazing to be involved in getting back into cricket, in terms of viewership. Both sides had a lot of time to build up with the camps. West Indies had a lot of time getting ready in Manchester. It was a hard-fought Test. The skills and the level of cricket played was fantastic.
You have to believe that 200 is enough, and if you don’t, you’re already losing. We should have got more runs in the first innings. We weren’t ruthless enough to make our batting innings count, despite getting into good positions.
I would still have batted first because the first innings runs count. If we made 400-500 runs, we really would have taken it away. But it has been a massive learning curve for the batting line-up and the young guys.
Ben Stokes (2/2), on leaving out Broad: I don’t regret leaving Stuart Broad out, and we are fortunate to leave someone like him out. I would be upset if he didn’t show the passion he did in that interview, and he’s nowhere near done.
If he plays in the second Test I hope he walks off with some wickets. Pressure shows itself in different ways, and some hectic running goes on in the middle, and there are chances we didn’t take. Lots of positives in retrospect, and a good learning curve this game.
In terms of fitness, we had a long build-up period, so it’ll be interesting how everybody pulls up for the next Test. I’ve loved captaining England, but this is Joe’s team and I welcome him back.
Jason Holder | West Indies captain: One of our best victories. Yesterday was the best day I had in Test cricket. All the bowlers toiled hard yesterday, and it was a hard-fought day of Test cricket. I don’t think any team knew. We had been sat at home doing nothing.
We had time to prepare, but you never know. John took a blow today, but hopefully, he will come through. We knew what was at stake yesterday evening. We knew we had 98 overs, and we had to go to 7 PM. Alzarri and I thought we would bowl till 6:30 and the other two would take over.
It would’ve been difficult to push for a win if we didn’t bowl extremely well on a flat pitch. Blackwood was outstanding. Disappointing to see him get out on 95 but that’s how he plays. Jermaine always tries and never short on effort, and today was his big moment.
Man of the Match: 
Player: Shannon Gabriel (Bowler – 9 wickets for 137 runs)
I wasn’t doubtful about my fitness. I knew I would play. I knew the work that I put in would take care of itself. I am still a bit stiff, but there are a few days to recover for the next Test match.
STUMPS DAY 1: