England 146-1, lead West Indies by 82 runs in first Test
Cricket
England were 146 for one at tea on the fourth day of the first Test against the West Indies.
NORTH SOUND (AFP) - England were 146 for one in their second innings, a lead of 82 runs, at tea on the fourth day of the first Test against the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Friday.
Earlier, Kemar Roach struck an early blow for the West Indies but England succeeded in erasing a first innings deficit of 64 runs, reaching 72 for one at lunch on the fourth day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday.
Already in credit with nine wickets in hand on a pitch which still appears quite placid in nature, the tourists will resume in the afternoon with opener Zak Crawley on 45 and captain Joe Root on 20, their second-wicket partnership worth 48 as they carefully negotiated a potentially tricky passage of play.
Root came to the crease after Alex Lees again failed to impress on his Test debut, the left-hander once more being undone by a full-length delivery from Roach which trapped him leg-before for six in the sixth over.
Crawley had survived a moment of anxiety a couple overs earlier when he was ruled lbw by umpire Gregory Brathwaite.
However the batsman s challenge of the on-field verdict proved correct, allowing him to continue to fight against a disciplined West Indies bowling attack as Roach, Jayden Seales and Jason Holder pressed for more success before the interval.
Kept in the field all day on a turgid third day by the West Indies who advanced their first innings by 171 runs off 90.1 overs, England needed just three deliveries to claim the final wicket on the fourth morning.
Last man Seales was trapped leg-before by Jack Leach, giving the left-arm spinner his second wicket of the innings after 43.3 overs of toil.
West Indies first innings total of 375 represented an excellent recovery from the discomfort of 127 for four on the second afternoon.
That was due primarily to a patient second Test century from Nkrumah Bonner, who occupied the crease for over nine hours in accumulating 123 before he was the ninth wicket to fall late on the third day.
Brief scores:
England 311 (J. Bairstow 140, B. Foakes 42;J. Seales 4-79) and 146-1 (Z. Crawley 79 not out, J. Root 55 not out) v West Indies 375 (N. Bonner 123, K. Brathwaite 55, J. Holder 45)
Match status: England lead by 82 runs with nine second innings wickets in hand
Toss: England
