England on Verge of Innings Victory as West Indies Struggle Again in the 1st Test
England is on the verge of defeating the West Indies by innings in just three days thanks to a dominant bowling performance.
West Indies were reduced to 79 for 6 in their second innings as Ben Stokes, Gus Atkinson, and James Anderson shared six wickets on the second evening. With 171 runs separating them from England’s 371 total, the West Indies must perform a miracle to win.
West Indies 79 for 6 (Athanaze 22, Anderson 2-11, Stokes 2-25) and 121 trail England 371 (Crawley 76, Smith 70, Root 68, Seales 4-77) by 171 runs.
After sharing six wickets with Ben Stokes, Gus Atkinson, and James Anderson on the second evening, England needs four more wickets to win the West Indies in three days. In their opening innings, the hosts scored at a rate of more than four runs per over thanks to their dominance at the bat. They then tightened their grip on the ball to trim their deficit to 1-0.
West Indies collapsed to 37 for 4 in 19 overs, needing to score 250 to force England to bat again—more than double their first-innings total. In a ten-over session, Stokes removed Mikyle Louis and Kirk McKenzie, Anderson’s inswinger knocked back Kraigg Brathwaite’s middle stump, and Kavem Hodge cut Atkinson onto his own stumps.
The hitters from the West Indies were considerably too passive, trying to survive rather than score runs but eventually succeeding in neither. An uncommon exception came from No. 4, Alick Athanaze, who fell for 22 after being worked over by a classic Anderson set-up in which balls were shaping in and others leaving him before slipping behind as he tried to force through the covers.
Sadly, the West Indies’ third-highest stand of the game was reached by Joshua da Silva and Jason Holder’s 24 for the sixth wicket, but England struck with the last ball of the day. With two men out on the hook, Stokes set up a short-ball trap, which Holder could only thwart with a bumper from Atkinson to Ollie Pope at short leg.
After building a sizable first-innings advantage with half-centuries from Harry Brook, Joe Root, and debutant Jamie Smith in addition to Pope and Zak Crawley, England was bowled out during the tea break on the second afternoon. The bowlers from the West Indies, aside from Jayden Seales, who was the star of the show, lacked experience in red-ball match practice.
In the opening hour, Brook and Root produced a lot of runs square of the wicket, with Brook batting brilliantly in his first Test innings in nearly a year. He hit fifty for the twelfth time in his 13th Test match, but he was unable to add to it when he top-edged a hook that Alzarri Joseph attempted, sending da Silva straight back to the pavilion, confirming the notion that he can be vulnerable to the short ball.
Root broke Allan Border’s career aggregate during his 68-run innings to go into the top ten all-time Test run scorers, but he fell just before lunch. After Stokes, he became the second England batsman to be dismissed by an outstanding delivery from Gudakesh Motie, which begs the issue of why Brathwaite waited so long to use his left-arm spinner in the attack.
The season’s opening international innings for Stokes lasted just 11 balls. In his first over of the morning, Motie, who justified his selection over Kevin Sinclair, threw up the ball and found a strong turn after landing it on a footmark. Stokes was left speechless when it tore back beyond the inner edge of his swoosh and tore his middle stump out of the ground.
After losing his off stump in the penultimate over before the interval, Root was left grinning in shock. Motie bowled his arm ball with an upright seam this time, but he went wide on the crease. The delivery drifted in swiftly, and Root planned to punch into the off side, but it veered late off the pitch to beat him on the outside edge.
Also Read: England Dominated West Indies in The First Test as Debutant Gus Atkinson Picked Up 7/45
In his first Test innings, Smith was the star of the second session, knocking Seales over the Tavern Stand and onto St John’s Wood Road. Chris Woakes and Smith enjoyed a calm partnership of 52 runs, but Smith discovered a new gear when batting with the tail, even with the field stretched, when Woakes and Atkinson fell quickly to the second new ball.
Three overs after achieving a 98-ball half-century, he began to skip down the pitch and smashed Shamar Joseph into the Grandstand for six. This was after an unusually slow start to his innings. After three overs, he let himself enough space to smash Seales’ short ball past midwicket and beyond Lord’s reach.
With what might very well be his last innings in Test cricket, retiring Anderson was acclaimed out to the middle for his precise, direct-hit run-out of Shoaib Bashir at the non-striker’s end by Louis. However, he did not have to face a ball as Smith finished with 70 after dragging Seales’ last delivery over to McKenzie at deep backward square leg.
Due to minor muscle soreness from a recent T20 diet, Shamar Joseph missed part of the afternoon session on the field. He was observed getting treatment for his left hamstring in the dressing room. Midway through his fifteenth over, he was forced to leave the pitch and appeared uncomfortable after completing one more over with the second fresh ball.
Anderson can’t pass the late Shane Warne to become the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of the format because there aren’t enough hitters left. But on Friday, he gets the chance to secure one last triumph for his nation in his 188th and last Test match.
