A terrific bowling performance from Gus Atkinson on debut, followed by a dominant batting display from Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, put England in a strong position against West Indies at the end of Day 1 of the first Test at Lord’s.
West Indies, who started the second session at 61/3, ended up being bowled out for a lowly 121 as Gus 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 the same venue back in 1995. England then rode on Crawley’s 76 and Pope’s 57, scoring 159 in the final session at a run-rate of 5.9 to go into stumps on Wednesday (July 10) at 189/3, leading by 68 runs.
Pitch and Toss
It’s almost always a five-day pitch at Lord’s unless the overhead conditions interfere. There are rains forecast, as you would in what’s expected to be one of Britain’s wettest summers since 1912. England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl with two debutants in the playing XI in form of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith with James Anderson playing his farewell test match.
For West Indies, Jason Holder returns after missing the Australia tour due to his T20 commitments and he will be a key figure with his all-round skills. He will lead a four-pronged seam attack with the Brisbane hero Shamar Joseph the cynosure of all eyes. Gudakesh Motie will be the lone spinner.
Morning Session Day 1: Gus Atkinson’s double puts England in ascendancy on first morning at Lord’s
In James Anderson’s farewell Test, debutants from either side shone in the first session of the opening game, with England’s regular strikes helping them gain the early advantage over West Indies. The visitors went into Lunch on Wednesday (July 10) at 61/3.
It was a Test match that bridged generations, featuring the 41-year-old Anderson in his final game and three debutants: 23-year-old wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and 26-year-old pacer Gus Atkinson for England, and the 23-year-old Mikyle Louis who was partnering Kraigg Brathwaite at the top for the visiting side. Ben Stokes decided to bowl in overcast conditions at Lord’s, with both elevens announced a day earlier.
The fearlessness of the new generation was on display straightaway as Louis, despite edging a full delivery from Anderson for a four in the opening over, did not hold back his drive past mid-off when the veteran pacer went full again. Woakes opened the attack with Anderson and both operated on a good length, getting movement in the air and off the pitch.
Brathwaite was squared up on multiple occasions and struggled to get going. On the other hand, Louis exuded confidence as he cut away a short delivery from Woakes before executing a pick-up shot over the deep square leg fence off Woakes for the first six of the match. Despite his probing lines, Anderson couldn’t pick up a wicket in his first spell, in which he bowled five overs for 11 runs, including two maidens.
Another debutant who made a good first impression was Gus Atkinson, who was introduced into the attack in the 11th over. He kept it full to Brathwaite and had him inside-edging the ball onto the stumps.
Woakes thought he had Louis caught behind and umpire Nitin Menon thought so too as he lifted the finger, only to reverse the decision moments later as the batter made successful use of the DRS. It started to drizzle when Atkinson bagged his second by having Kirk McKenzie caught at second slip. Atkinson also found the outside edge of Alick Athanaze’s bat but soft hands from the batter meant the ball landed short of the slip cordon.
The focus was also on Stokes and his fitness, with the England captain having decided to skip the IPL and the T20 World Cup to get back to optimum shape. He brought himself at the start of the 14th over and bowled till the close of the first session, bowling eight overs in his first spell. He was moving the ball both ways and mixing his lengths to keep the batters guessing. He even found the inside edge of Louis’s bat and fortunately for the batter, the ball missed the stumps and went to the fence.
Stokes’s persistence eventually reaped reward as Louis got a thick outside edge to third slip where Harry Brook pulled off a stunning one-handed catch. Kavem Hodge struck a four off Stokes square on the off side to help West Indies to 50 in the 24th over. Anderson bowled four overs from the other end, and was finding more swing in his second spell. The rare occasion that Anderson erred with his length was when Hodge struck his second boundary, playing a cut shot, as he and Athanaze saw West Indies through to Lunch without any damage.
Post Lunch Session Day 1 : Gus Atkinson’s record 7-fer fast-tracks West Indies to 121 all out
A phenomenal bowling performance from Gus Atkinson on debut fast-tracked West Indies’ collapse in the second session of the Lord’s Test as they were bowled out for a lowly 121. Atkinson became the seventh Englishman to pick up seven wickets in an innings on debut – his 7/45 only bettered by Dominic Cork’s 7/43 against West Indies at the same venue back in 1995. The visitors ended up losing seven wickets for the addition of only 60 runs to fold cheaply and England went into the Tea break at 30/1, with Zak Crawley batting on 24.
England’s openers started cautiously in the first three overs, with only three runs coming off them, before Zak Crawley struck two consecutive boundaries off Jayden Seales. Ben Duckett had a lucky break as Mikyle Louis put down a simple catch at point to deny Alzarri Joseph a wicket in the fifth over. Crawley got a boundary in the same over, just about clearing mid on. Seales ended the opening stand on the brink of Tea by getting Duckett to edge to the ‘keeper.
The second session started with Atkinson bowling a short ball to Kavem Hodge who put it away for a four, signaling intent straightaway after a watchful first session in which West Indies scored at just over two an over.
Alick Athanaze brought out the straight drives against Chris Woakes for two successive boundaries in the next over. Although he wasn’t completely in control, Hodge also dispatched a short ball from Gus Atkinson for a six. While Woakes tested Athanaze a bit coming around the wicket, the left-handed batter did not have any problems against Gus Atkinson when he drove one through covers for another four.
Atkinson, however, hit back to have Athanaze edge to first slip, ending a 44-run fourth wicket stand, and then dismissed Jason Holder for a first-ball duck. Joshua Da Silva ensured Gus Atkinson did not bag a hat-trick but fell soon after, getting an inside-edge to hand debutant wicketkeeper Jamie Smith his first catch.
Gus Atkinson, in the process, became the ninth England bowler to bag a fifer on Test debut at Lord’s. The milestones continued for the England bowlers as Pope took a sharp catch when Hodge cut one hard off Woakes, giving the bowler his 150th Test wicket.
Alzarri Joseph decided to take the attack to England, striking four fours in an over off Atkinson, much to the delight of Sir Viv Richards who was cheering on from the stands. The fast bowler helped West Indies past 100 but fell looking for a big one off Atkinson, giving the pacer his sixth wicket. Atkinson picked up his seventh by having Shamar Joseph top-edge a pull but he couldn’t become the first England bowler to pick up 8 in an innings on debut as James Anderson wrapped up West Indies’ innings by trapping Seales in front.
Earlier, in the first session, the debutants shone for both teams with England’s regular strikes helping them gain ascendancy. The 23-year old opener Mikyle Louis began confidently, striking regular boundaries along with a pick-up shot for a six off Woakes, while the experienced Kraigg Brathwaite struggled against the moving ball.
Despite his probing lines, Anderson couldn’t pick up a wicket in his first spell, in which he bowled five overs for 11 runs, including two maidens. Meanwhile, Gus Atkinson made a good first impression as he accounted for the wickets of Brathwaite (inside edge onto the stumps) and Kirk McKenzie (caught at second slip) to make early inroads.
The focus was also on Ben Stokes and his fitness, with the England captain having decided to skip the IPL and the T20 World Cup to get back to optimum shape. He brought himself at the start of the 14th over and bowled till the close of the first session, bowling eight overs in his first spell. He was moving the ball both ways and mixing his lengths to keep the batters guessing.
His persistence eventually reaped reward as Louis got a thick outside edge to third slip where Harry Brook pulled off a stunning one-handed catch. Anderson, brought back into the attack, and Stokes bowled till the end of the first session but Hodge and Athanaze saw through to Lunch without any damage, only for Atkinson to run through the West Indies order after the break.
Post Tea Session Day 1 : Debutant Gus Atkinson headlines England’s day of domination
The debutants shone for both teams with England’s regular strikes helping them gain ascendancy in the first session after the hosts opted to bowl. The 23-year-old opener Mikyle Louis, playing his first game for West Indies, began confidently striking regular boundaries along with a pick-up shot for a six off Chris Woakes, while the experienced Kraigg Brathwaite struggled against the moving ball.
Despite his probing lines, the 41-year-old James Anderson playing his farewell Test, couldn’t pick up a wicket in his first spell. Gus Atkinson then came into the attack and made a good first impression as he accounted for the wickets of Brathwaite (inside edge onto the stumps) and Kirk McKenzie (caught at second slip).
The focus was also on Ben Stokes and his fitness, with the England captain having decided to skip the IPL and the T20 World Cup to get back to optimum shape. He brought himself at the start of the 14th over and bowled till the close of the first session, bowling eight overs in his first spell. He was moving the ball both ways and mixing his lengths to keep the batters guessing.
His persistence eventually reaped reward as Louis got a thick outside edge to third slip where Harry Brook pulled off a stunning one-handed catch. Anderson, brought back into the attack, and Stokes bowled till the end of the first session but Hodge and Alick Athanaze saw through to Lunch without any damage.
The second session started with Atkinson bowling a short ball to Kavem Hodge who put it away for a four, signaling intent straightaway after a watchful first session in which West Indies scored at just over two an over. Athanaze brought out the straight drives against Woakes for two successive boundaries in the next over.
Although he wasn’t completely in control, Hodge also dispatched a short ball from Atkinson for a six. While Woakes tested Athanaze a bit coming around the wicket, the left-handed batter did not have any problems against Atkinson when he drove one through covers for another four. Atkinson, however, hit back to have Athanaze edge to first slip, ending a 44-run fourth wicket stand, and then dismissed Holder for a first-ball duck.
Joshua Da Silva ensured Atkinson did not bag a hat-trick but fell soon after, getting an inside edge to hand debutant wicketkeeper Jamie Smith his first catch. Atkinson, in the process, became the ninth England bowler to bag a fifer on Test debut at Lord’s. The milestones continued for the England bowlers as Pope took a sharp catch when Hodge cut one hard off Woakes, giving the bowler his 150th Test wicket.
Joseph decided to take the attack to England, striking four fours in an over off Atkinson, but he fell on his sword looking for a big one. Atkinson then picked up his seventh by having Shamar Joseph top-edge a pull but he couldn’t become the first England bowler to pick up eight in an innings on debut as Anderson wrapped up West Indies’ innings by trapping Jayden Seales in front.
England’s openers started cautiously in the first three overs, with only three runs coming off them, before Crawley struck two consecutive boundaries off Seales. Ben Duckett had a lucky break as Louis put down a simple catch at point to deny Alzarri Joseph a wicket in the fifth over. Crawley got a boundary in the same over, just about clearing mid on.
Seales ended the opening stand on the brink of Tea by getting Duckett to edge to the ‘keeper. Pope started positively after the break and West Indies didn’t have any luck going their way as Pope first reversed a leg-before decision given in Jason Holder’s over before the same bowler watched on disappointed as West Indies’ review for a leg-before decision against Crawley didn’t yield any positive returns.
Meanwhile, the light meters were brought out regularly with the greying clouds overhead before the umpires decided to take the players off the field briefly for bad light. West Indies’ bowlers were a lot tighter with their lines when the players returned, which meant the scoring rate slowed down a touch.
But it was only a while before the boundaries started coming again, with a four apiece off Joseph helping Pope and Crawley bring up their half-centuries. England’s second wicket pair extended their partnership to 94 as they helped their side into the lead before Holder gave West Indies some respite by having Pope out lbw.
But the frequency of boundaries increased as Root played a late cut off Seales while Crawley targeted Joseph, scoring four boundaries in two overs, although a couple of them were thick outside edges. He also struck a four off Seales before getting bowled by a yorker in the same over as Crawley got out in the 70s for the seventh time in his career, failing to convert his last six 50-plus scores into a 100.
Root and Brook then added an unbroken 36-run stand, with the latter scoring 25 of those runs, including three fours, as they led England into Stumps with a handy lead.
Road Ahead for England and West Indies
England’s day through and through. Under overcast skies they sent West Indies in and the debutant Gus Atkinson had a dream debut scalping 7 for 45 to send the visitors packing for 121. West Indies started off well with the debutant Mikyle Louis impressing with his technique but that all changed as Gus Atkinson produced a dream spell. After lunch he took 3 wickets in one over and West Indies never recovered from that.
The conditions were helpful for the seamers throughout when England bowled but West Indies played some poor shots and their inexperience showed. Alzarri tried to take on the bowling but after four boundaries in one Gus Atkinson over he fell. That was the end of the fun. England came out and Crawley played his shots and after Duckett fell early, the Pope-Crawley stand stabilized the innings before West Indies got them both before stumps.
England already lead by 68 and would be looking to bat only once on this. Hard work ahead of West Indies as we head into day 2. They will need all the spirit and resolve they showed in Australia to make a comeback into this game.