West Indies went 1-0 up in their 3 match series in England. The star of the show was undoubtedly the West Indian middle order batsman Jermaine Blackwood. Playing in his 29th Test, Blackwood scored a scintillating 95 off 154 balls which included 12 boundaries. He was unfortunate to miss out on his 2nd test century leaving the Windies 11 short of their 200 run target. Earlier, Windies bowler Shannon Gabriel helped dismiss the English for 313 with figures of 5/75 in 21.2 overs adding to his 4 wickets in the first innings. Gabriel went on to pick up the Player of the Match award for his spells in the first and second innings.
Blackwood along with other former cricketers came out on social media with words of praise for the Windies.
Big team WIN today @windiescricket We worked really hard for this! Job not done yet but great start. #WINdies
— Jermaine Blackwood (@JBlackwood100) July 12, 2020
Wow @windiescricket what a win. Top display of test cricket.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 12, 2020
First game after the break belongs to us!
Some gritty performance from the lads. This team deserves the win in this game. Congratulations boys
You make us proud… 👊🏿 #ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/wYAVRGOwh6
— Sir Vivian Richards (@ivivianrichards) July 12, 2020
What a test match to Herald the return of cricket. Steely determination from @windiescricket both @benstokes38 and Jason Holder have shown themselves to be exemplary leaders.
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) July 13, 2020
England, who won the toss and elected to bat in Southampton put up a total of 204 with captain Ben Stokes top scoring with a patient 43. They were restricted to a paltry 204 thanks mainly to Stokes’ counterpart Jason Holder who finished with a 6 wicket haul from his spell of 20 overs. In reply, the Windies scored 318, with all their batsmen getting starts but failing to convert their starts into a 3 figure score. Opener Kraigg Braithwaite (65) and keeper Shane Dorwich (61) helped the windies to a healthy 114 run lead going into the second innings.
The English openers came out on a mission and tackled the new ball to perfection with a 72 run opening stand before Rory Burns was dismissed for 45. The top order then continued the good work by the openers and left them with a 135 run lead at the end of the 89th over. Then came the calamitous collapse for the English as they lost their next 7 wickets adding just 64 runs to their lead leaving the WIndies with a target of 200 to chase.
The Windies were off to a rocking start losing their first 3 wickets with just 27 on the board. Blackwood then found two able partners in Roston Chase (37) and Shane Dorwich (20) putting up 73 and 68 run partnerships respectively. With just a few overs to spare, the Windies then went on to reach the 200 run target thanks mainly to Blackwood’s superb knock of 95.
The win gave the Windies their first points (40) on the Test Championship table which is currently lead by India with 360 points.
