The much-awaited England versus West Indies Test series kicked-off on Wednesday (July 08). It is the first international game post coronavirus outbreak. England’s stand-in captain Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to bat first.
However, on Day 1, the weather played its part and spoiled the party. Only 106 balls were bowled due to constant interruption by light showers. At the end of day’s play, England were 35-1 with opener Rory Burns and top-order batsman Joe Denly remained unbeaten on 20 and 14, respectively.
The duo started the proceedings on Day 2 and added 13 runs before West Indies’ pacer Shannon Gabriel, who sent opener Dom Sibley back to the hut on Day 1, shined yet again as he dismissed Denly with an absolute peach of a delivery.
It all happened in the 24th over of England’s innings when Denly scored a boundary of the first ball. It was a half-volley near the pads, and Denly drove it into mid-wicket region for a four. However, Gabriel returned with a bang as he bowled a scrambled seam delivery which nipped back in and shattered the defence of Denly.
Here is the video:
A cracking delivery.
Scorecard & Clips: https://t.co/ldtEXLDT8V#ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/VwaaBEOkwp
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 9, 2020
Gabriel didn’t just stop there as he continued the golden spell and sent set batsman Burns back into the pavilion in the next over. Gabriel bowled a yorker on leg-stump, and Burns due to his stance came in the line.
However, the umpire didn’t give the batsman out, so Holder went for a review. In the replay, Burns was seen falling across and missing the flick shot, due to which the ball struck low on the pad and therefore crashed into the leg-stump. The original decision was reversed, and Burns had to walk out after scoring 30 off 85 balls.
