Harsha Bhogle & Aakash Chopra laud WI for registering an emphatic win over England

Cricket pundits Harsha Bhogle and Aakash Chopra came forward to congratulate the West Indies team after they had pulled off an emphatic win over England in the first Test match that was played at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. At the same time, this match had also marked the return of international cricket after a long wait of 117 days as all the cricketing events were either postponed or canceled due to the COVID pandemic.

 'Brilliant result'

Taking to the micro-blogging site, the 'Voice of Indian Cricket' wrote it was a brilliant result for an understated, determined West Indies side and that it was an excellent Test match that has been good for the game of cricket.

Meanwhile, Chopra lauded West Indies and Test cricket and then concluded by thanking the hosts England for making this (revival of cricket) possible in current times.

Windies beat England in a thriller

England's stand-in captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first in the historic Eng vs WI Test match. However, the decision backfired tremendously for the hosts as Stokes' counterpart Jason Holder not only won the 'Captain's Battle' between them by dismissing him but also sent 5 other English batsmen back to the pavilion. Shannon Gabriel took 4 wickets in the first innings to restrict England to a mere 204 in the first innings. 

Jofra Archer, who replaced Stuart Broad much to the surprise of many for the first Eng vs WI Test match, was expected to fire on all cylinders and lead England's comeback into the match. However, that wasn't to be as Jofra Archer ended up with no wickets at all in the first innings and would have to wait for the second innings to make an impact. 

Led by wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich's 61 and Roston Chase's 47, West Indies managed to muster 318 in reply, gaining a vital first-innings lead of 114 runs. Jason Holder, who was expected to lead from the front with the bat as well, fell just for 5 as Ben Stokes got his 'revenge' with his wicket being one of the 4 West Indian scalps of his. 

Although England started the second innings positively with openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley putting up a rare 50+ partnership in home conditions, West Indies bounced back with Gabriel picking 3 more wickets as England ended Day 4 on 284/8, being just 170 ahead in the game. 

On Day 5, the hosts were bundled out for 313 as the Windies were set a target of exactly 200 runs.  The Jason Holder-led side found themselves on the backfoot as they lost wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 100/4 on a deteriorating wicket. However, Jermaine Blackwood anchored the West Indian run chase and brought his side to the cusp of victory but unfortunately was dismissed five runs short of what would have been an outstanding century.

By the time he was dismissed, the visitors were already in the driver's seat and it was just a matter of time before they crossed the finish line to register a four-wicket win and go 1-0 up in the three-match series. 

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