1st Test
Day-3 Morning Session Highlights:
Debutant Gus Atkinson has secured comprehensive win in James Anderson’s farewell match
West Indies scored 121/10 (1st Innings) & 136/10 (2nd Innings), where as England scored 371/10 (1st Innings).
So, finally England beat West Indies by an innings & 114 runs.
An unforgettable debut and a memorable farewell headlined England’s comprehensive victory by an innings and 114 runs in the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s, bridging generations and marking a symbolic passing of the baton.
Gus Atkinson, with match figures of 12 for 106, became the first bowler to take 10 wickets on debut at Lord’s since 1972.
His performance was the second-best for England on debut, following Frederick Martin’s 12 for 102 against Australia in 1890.
James Anderson’s swansong ended with figures of 3-32 in the second innings, concluding his Test career as the third leading wicket-taker with 704.
The Test also confirmed Ben Stokes’s return to full bowling fitness, as the England captain bowled 18 overs across two innings, picking up three wickets.
This included eight overs in one spell in the first innings and 10 consecutive overs in the second.
Having been reduced to 79/6 at stumps on Day 2, still 171 runs in deficit, West Indies’ lower order couldn’t offer much resistance, getting bowled out for 136 in their second innings.
Anderson delivered the first strike of the day, getting Joshua Da Silva to edge to the ‘keeper with a typical delivery that angled in and shaped away.
Atkinson got Alzarri Joseph on the hook for his third wicket of the innings, then bowled Shamar Joseph with a yorker for his 11th wicket of the match.
The old warhorse Anderson had a chance to sign off with a four-fer but missed a simple catch off his own bowling when Gudakesh Motie chipped the ball back to him.
Motie then struck a few fours off Atkinson, two of them off edges, while Jayden Seales played an off-drive for a four off Anderson.
Seales, attempting a pull, handed a catch in the deep as Atkinson finished with five in the second innings, completing a dream debut for the Surrey pacer.
His two five-wicket hauls on debut was the first instance for an England bowler since 1934, and the first by any pacer in Test cricket since 1972.
The focus then shifted to Anderson as he received hugs from his teammates and the coach and was greeted by the West Indian players as he led the team off the field for the last time.
The platform for England’s victory was set up on the opening day after Stokes opted to bowl, with Atkinson running through the West Indies batting order to bowl them out for 121.
Atkinson became the seventh Englishman to pick up seven in an innings on debut – his 7/45 only bettered by Dominic Cork’s 7/43 against West Indies at Lord’s in 1995.
England then delivered a collective batting show, with as many as five half-centurions in their innings.
Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope struck fifties and put on a brisk 94-run stand for the second wicket, followed by Harry Brook and Joe Root scoring contrasting fifties and adding 91 for the fourth wicket.
Jamie Smith, the Surrey wicketkeeper-batter and another debutant for England, batted well with the lower middle order, his 70 helping England finish with 371, gaining a first-innings lead of 250.
The ever-reliable Anderson and Stokes combined to leave West Indies in disarray in the second innings before the veteran joined forces with Atkinson for the finishing touches to England’s dominating performance, ending the match inside the first session on the third day.
Leave a Reply