Tea England 77 (Jennings 17, Roach 5-17)trail West Indies 289 (Hetmyer 81, Anderson 5-46) by 212 runs
ESPNcricinfo– A brutal West Indies pace attack, led by Kemar Roach, has left England devastated at tea on the second day of the first Test in Barbados.
Experienced strike duo Roach and Jason Holder demolished England’s batting line-up while defending a modest total after James Anderson’s record-equalling five-wicket haul appeared to have put the tourists firmly in control.
A talking point before the match was West Indies’ decision to pick just one spinner and four quicks, while England opted for two slow bowlers and left out Stuart Broad in favour of Sam Curran. But a miracle spun from Curran’s batting prowess, which secured his place in the team ahead of Broad, never eventuated and England were all out for 77, still trailing by 212 runs.
Having restricted West Indies to 289 – thanks to Anderson’s 5-46 which moved him level with Ian Botham’s record of 27 five-wicket hauls for England, and Ben Stokes’s 4-59 – the tourists were entitled to feel comfortable with their team selection.
By lunch their decision looked questionable when Holder had Keaton Jennings caught cheaply, slicing a drive straight to gully to put England at 30-1, and by the late interval they were shown to have completely misread the pace-friendly pitch as Holder, and later Alzarri Joseph, played a supporting role to the rampaging Roach.
Roach claimed 5-4 in 27 balls, including the wickets of Stokes and Moeen Ali with consecutive deliveries. Stokes was out lbw and Moeen to a top-edge caught by Joseph at fine leg, both for no score. That was after Roach had dismissed Rory Burns and Jonny Bairstow, with Holder chiming in to trap Joe Root lbw for four in the meantime.
Roach then had Jos Buttler caught behind by Shane Dowrich and ended the session with 5-17 off 11 overs. Holder, meanwhile, had 2-15 off eight and Joseph 2-20 off 4.2.
Joseph combined with Dowrich to get rid of Ben Foakes for just two, meaning Jennings, Bairstow, Curran and Rashid were the only England batsmen to reach double figures, all of them barely.
Earlier, Anderson added Joseph’s wicket, caught at third slip by Buttler for no score, to his pivotal four wickets on the opening day. It nd gave him figures of 5 for 46 from 30 overs, including 13 maidens. Stokes ended West Indies’ innings with the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer, the only home batsman who threatened to convert a decent start. Hetmyer, who had been dropped on 56, reached 81 before he was caught behind by Foakes.
Between them, Anderson and Stokes took 9 for 105 while spinner Moeen conceded 59 runs for his one wicket.
