It is Day three of England vs West Indies first Test match and Windies have swiftly taken the lead by 31 runs. However, this lead wasn’t an easy play. The bio-environment match happening in Areas Bowl, Southampton observed a scare or two from the Englishmen while bowling to the Windies.
The toil came in the form of Roston Chase’s 27* off 115 balls. Balancing the stability at the other end with aggression was Shane Dowrich, whose 30* runs off 48 balls ensured that West Indies added 76/2 in 33 overs in the middle session on Day three.
James Anderson didn’t experience much swing in ball this afternoon, but the seam movement he gave out got the better of Shamarh Brook’s outside edge early on in the session. When Jermaine Blackwood handed a simple catch off Don Bess at cover – Michael Holding calling it “a leopard never changes its spots” moment on air – West Indies still trailed by 18 runs with five wickets in hand, and it was difficult to guess any results at that moment.
That’s when Chase, batting on 12* off 22 then, dropped the shutters down to ensure the visitors wouldn’t lose any wicket in the sessions. Mark Wood was continuously losing his balance in the followthrough, bowling at pace all the time, was testing batsmen with short balls. And so did Jofra Archer but couldn’t take a wicket. The two gave out 101 runs with 0 wickets for team England.
Bess, who came close to picking a wicket late in the session, but had the ball burst through his hand as Dowrich smashed it exceptionally hard. Dowrich, who has made more runs in this innings than his entire 2017 tour of England, made sure he would stay on the field for as long as possible. The new ball is available post Tea and should make an interesting passage of play.
Brief Scores: England 204 in 67.3 overs (Ben Stokes 43, Jos Buttler 35; Jason Holder 6-42, Shannon Gabriel 4-62) trail West Indies 235/5 in 80 overs (Kraigg Brathwaite 65, Shane Dowrich 30; Dominic Bess 2-51, James Anderson 2-42) by 31 runs
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