After the long wait for the resumption of cricket England and West Indies played the first test of 3 matches closed-door test series in Southampton. The visitors West Indies shocked the hosts and won the first test match by 4 wickets. The England team never showed their positive intent in the entire match, right from the selection of the team to the final ball of the last innings.
In the build-up to the first test match, England captain Ben Stokes completely failed to deliver as a captain. It was Stokes’s first game as a captain of England in any format. He only captained 3 games in his entire domestic career before. Leading the English side was the biggest challenge for Stokes and after this loss, his credibility as a leader is also being judged. Stokes’s as a leader didn’t gone well for England but his heroics as a player impressed everyone before, even in this match he took crucial wickets and delivered with his bat.
West Indies outplayed England-
West Indies won the first test match by 4 wickets and they completely outplayed England right from the first day. In fourth innings West Indies got the target of 200 runs to chase by the English team, they lost their first 3 wickets in quick succession but later on, Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood stood strong and made 73 runs partnership. After the dismissal of Chase, Blackwood went on scoring 95 runs and he was also the highest run-getter in the entire match. Blackwood missed his century but took his team to a winning tale.
On the other side, English bowlers were not in good form to attack the West Indies batsmen. Captain Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer took a couple of wickets in both innings but the complete team effort to win the test match overshadowed their contribution. England played only 3 specialist fast bowlers and an off-spinner Dominic Bess, while the West Indies went with the 4 specialist fast bowlers. In the overcast conditions, there was a lot of help for the fast bowlers and the West Indies fast bowlers used the opportunity pretty well.
West Indies fast bowlers sealed the show-
West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel was the player of the match with his 9 wicket haul in the match. Captain Jason Holder also took 7 wickets in the entire match and he was the one who rotated the bowlers in a positive and tricky way. Ben Stokes could have played Stuart Board for off-spinner Dominic Bess and after the loss, the questions are been raised on the standing English captain. West Indies are now in the lead of 1-0 in this series, while England fears for the series loss. England’s regular captain Joe Root will be back in Manchester test but as of now the momentum of this series is with the visitors.