West Indies skipper Jason Holder stunned England with a career-best six-wicket haul on Day 2 of the series opener at Southampton on Thursday.
Holder, the world’s top-ranked all-rounder, took 6-42 as England were dismissed for 204 to surpass his previous Test-best of 6-59 against Bangladesh at Kingston in 2018. It was the sixth time in his last 10 Tests that the Barbadian paceman had taken five or more wickets in an innings, with Thursday’s return including the prize scalp of his counterpart Ben Stokes.
“I have done a good job so far but my Test is far from over,” Holder told the reporters after bad light forced an early close with West Indies 57-1, a deficit of 147 runs.
“I have a massive contribution to make with the bat,” the 28-year-old added.
Here’s the video:
A West Indies pace bowler ripping into the deck AND a Pom collapse?
Cricket at its absolute best 🕺 😏 #ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/lTB9KQC5Q9
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) July 9, 2020
Earlier, England opted to leave out veteran pacer Stuart Broad and deploy fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood together for the first time in a Test match.
But although both Archer and Wood topped speeds of 90 mph, it was James Anderson – England’s all-time most successful Test bowler – who took the lone wicket of John Campbell.
“I think they are on top,” said Wood of team England.
“They have done really well today, bowled really well, showed us the way to go.”
