Finally, the cricket is back after a long period because of the deadly COVID 19 pandemic. It's been a pleasure to see players on the field. The 1st test match of the 3 match West Indies tour of England series was held on July 8-12 of 2020, Wednesday at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. Ben Stokes captained England Team, and West Indies team was lead by Jason Holder. England captain won the toss and chose to bowl first.
English team management gave rest to Stuart Broad. On batting first, West Indian openers gave good start to their team with 43 runs, and opener K Brathwaite scored brilliant half-century with 65 runs. Roston Chase played a brilliant inning of 47 runs in middle order while wicket-keeper batsman Dowrich also scored 61. West Indies team scored 318 runs in their 1st innings. English captain took most 4 wickets in 1st innings for England.
England's openers failed to give a good start to team, and opener D Sibley got out on a duck. Rory Burns scored 30 runs while the captain Ben Stokes and wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler scored 43 and 35 runs respectively. England could only manage to score 204 runs in their 1st innings. Captain Holder took 6, and Gabriel took 4 wickets for West Indies. West Indies captain gave a follow on to England, and in 2nd inning, English openers gave a good start of 72 runs to team, and D Sibley scored 50 while middle-order batsman Z Crawley scored 76 runs. Captain Ben Stokes also scored 46 runs, but no other batsmen could score well runs, and the team made 313 runs. Gabriel again took 5 wickets in 2nd inning. England gave a target of only 200 runs.
Jermaine Blackwood scored 95 runs and guided West Indies to a 4 wickets win. Gabriel was selected as player of the match for his 9 wickets in the match.