England vs West Indies 1st Test Match Day 3 Breakdown

Day three breakdown

Another lacklustre day for England, after being bowled out for 204 and only taking one wicket on day 2, the West Indies resumed their innings on 57-1 with Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope at the crease. The former top scored with a scratchy but well made 65 which was the foundations for an innings the tourists will be very happy with. Batting conditions looked a lot easier than when the English side were batting on it. In hindsight, Stokes choosing to bat first was the wrong one, and Stuart Broad’s comments of not being able to tell what the weather will do, is slightly frustrating… it is literally people’s jobs to tell us what the weather will do. Anyway, the conditions were a lot less overcast and the pitch looked flat.

The West Indies got their bowling tactics right all of day 2, push the ball up and it would move. Unfortunately, the English pace attack, besides Jimmy, were more interested in bowling a shorter length. Archer and Wood lack the control that Broad would have bought to this bowling attack and it did seem like a Stuart Broad kind of day. Wickets did seem to fall at regular intervals but not before the tourists built a substantial lead of over 100.

Stokes, Bess and Anderson all stood out, but Dom Bess was the most surprising to me. The off spinner bowled with a lot of skill and trusted his captain to set good fields and worked to plans. Although a dropped catch later in the day was disappointing his two wickets were extremely helpful from a spinner in the first innings, I expect him to work some magic in the second innings if England score enough runs. Stokes led from the front with bat and ball as he took 4-49, Anderson with 3-62 and the final wicket went to Mark Wood, who toiled away but spent most of his time in the dirt after exerting a lot of energy in his delivery stride.

The English openers managed to bat through a tough 40-minute spell to start their second innings as openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley reached 15-0, a deficit of 99. This was a difficult spot and the two handled it well, Sibley looked to have tweaked his technique to allow him to leave the ball more freely outside the off stump which is good to see. Burns looked solid as always, a big partnership is needed tomorrow from these two if England have any chance of securing a draw, let alone a win.

England vs West Indies 1st Test Day 2 review

After a weather delayed the first Day of crickets return in England, Day two started off as another shoddy batting performance from the Three Lions. A mix of both poor batting and excellent bowling contributed to England’s Lunch time position, sitting at 106-5. Rory Burns and Joe Denly returned to the crease on the second morning looking to build a platform but that partnership was short lived, Shannon Gabriel exploiting Joe Denly’s technical issue with the in swinging delivery as Denly was bowled by a brilliant 90mph delivery. Denly started off slightly erratic playing and missing at a few deliveries before his inevitable downfall, its got to be time to move on from the 34 year old, he’s got one more chance in the second innings he really needs some runs then.

Before any wicket fell, Rory Burns managed to score his 1000^th run for England, the first opener to do so since Alistair Cook at the Oval all the way back in 2007. His jubilation was short lived as the left hander’s promising innings was ended on 30 when he was yorked by Gabriel, the big fast bowler causing havoc for the England top order.

The next in was Zak Crawley, the young man who is likely to miss out in the second test when Root returns. Crawley looked decent when leaving the ball and playing straight but this didn’t last too long as playing round a straight one he was LBW to the ever impressive Jason Holder, the number one test match all-rounder in the world and this morning really did show why, Holder was slightly short yesterday and at the start of the morning but adjusted his line and caused a lot of problems to both Stokes, Crawley and Pope. Crawley gone for ten, the latter of the three I just mentioned, Pope, came out and looked to be in fine form as he clipped a four off his legs and played an Ian Bell esq cover drive. However, the young man then gave away his good start when he tickled at a shortish length delivery from Holder and Pope was then also out for 13. Stokes was beaten a few times by Roach but the stand in captain and Wicket-keeper Jos Buttler consolidated to lunch.

The afternoon session started of extremely well for England considering the position that the three lions were in before the Lunch break. Stokes and Buttler looked extremely positive against Gabriel and Joseph while Holder steadied the flow of runs from one end. Stokes was dropped twice once by Roach with a difficult catch down at fine leg but also an easier chance at short extra cover which was a dolly. This was a big innings for Jos Buttler who looked positive from the start, playing his natural aggression seemed to work wonders for his confidence. Their blossoming partnership was then ended when Stokes was caught behind playing across the line to Jason Holder, who was simply outstanding. Holder’s magical day continued when he got Buttler caught behind with a beauty, Buttler looked slightly stuck on the crease but give all credit to the bowler.

The last wickets fell swiftly, Archer and Wood both dismissed by Holder to complete his best bowling figures, 6-42. A short cameo from Dom Bess of 31 from 44 balls was short lived as Gabriel returned to clean up Jimmy Anderson and the meagre England innings was all out for 204.

It was then the West Indies turn to bat and it was interesting to see that the pitch did not seem like too much of a minefield at the start of the innings. Anderson was doing Anderson things and got Campbell LBW for 12, or so he thought, the left-handed opener reviewed and like the reviews all day, it went in the West Indies favour. The same thing happened again after the players returned to the field after a bad light break, Jimmy pinned Campbell for 24 before the decision was once again overturned thanks to the review system. England’s luck finally turned as Anderson finally got his man LBW for 28, this time Campbell’s review failed him. Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite then saw out the rest of the overs to leave the 2^nd day firmly in West Indies hands, they are perfectly set up for a big score tomorrow as the weather looks great for batting.