An impressive bowling performance by Gus Atkinson on debut, followed by a strong batting display from Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, put England in pole position against West Indies at the end of Day 1 of the first Test at Lord’s. West Indies, who began the second session at 61/3, ended up being rolled over for 121 as Atkinson became the seventh Englishman to snare seven wickets in an innings on debut.
Crawley (76) and Pope (57) helped England score 159 in the final session at a run-rate of 5.9 to go into Stumps on Wednesday at 189/3, leading by 68 runs.
England have already got themselves into a commanding position in James Anderson’s farewell Test and they’ll be looking to pile on a mountain of runs to make sure they don’t need to bat again.
The legendary England seamer will retire as one of just the three bowlers in the coveted 700- wicket club in the red-ball format and has a realistic shot at surpassing Shane Warne’s tally of 708 scalps in his final Test.
Brief scores: West Indies 121 (Mikyle Louis 27, Kavem Hodge 24; Gus Atkinson 7-45 Ben Stokes 1-14) trail England 189/3 (Zak Crawley 76, Ollie Pope 57; Jayden Seales 2-31) by 68 runs.
Smacked for fou-OH MY GOODNESS 😅
Ollie Pope, that is a sensational catch 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LT3GCJbkEr
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 10, 2024
