England v West Indies, 1st Test, Day 1: 5 Talking Points

After a comprehensive Test series victory against the South Africans, England locked horns the West Indies on home soil. It was expected to be a tough challenge for the visitors considering their poor Test record in the recent past while England stood as the firm favourites heading into the match. 30-year-old Surrey batsman, Mark Stoneman finally got his first Three Lions cap replacing the out of form Keaton Jennings.

England won the toss and opted to take the willow in hand. Riding on brilliant centuries from Alastair Cook and skipper Joe Root, England maintained their dominance at Birmingham throughout the first day’s play. Alastair Cook became the owner of another record surpassing the legendary Graham Gooch. As far as the West Indian bowling is concerned, Kemar Roach emerged to be the lone warrior while the others failed to impress.The England innings stood at 348 runs for the loss of just 2 wickets at the end of the day’s play. Here are the 5 talking points from Day 1:

Alastair Cook’s century:

The left handed genius looked in his old magical touch as he brought up yet another Test century. Cook, who is considered as a serious contender to break Sachin Tendulkar‘s record of most Test runs marked the day with his 31st Test hundred. Opening the innings with Mark Stoneman, who became his 12th opening partner in Tests, Cook played a flamboyant inning of 153 runs facing a whopping 276 balls. The 32-year-old senior cricketer smashed 23 boundaries in the process and combined brilliantly with skipper Joe Root to take England to a formidable total.

Cook remained not out at the end of the day’s play and walked off the field raising his bat. The batsman got a standing ovation from the Edgbaston crowd as he made his way to the dressing room like a warrior. Cook’s highest score of 294 in Tests came at this very ground and he might just go past it if he continues to bat with such composure.

Joe Root century:

Skipper Joe Root was brilliant in providing support to the elegant Alastair Cook after the team lost Mark Stoneman and Tom Westley in quick succession. With a brilliant inning of 136 runs from 189 deliveries, the English skipper brought up his second century after taking up the responsibility of the captain. His first one came against South Africa in his debut Test as the skipper where he played a flawless 190 run knock. The century also marks the 13th of his Test career as he continues to grow as a batsman.

Root’s inning consisted of 22 boundaries and he played with a strike rate of 71.96. His mammoth 248-run-stand with Alastair Cook saw the hosts out of trouble after losing two wickets for just 39 runs early in the innings. Root was finally cleaned up by Kemar Roach who had a decent first day.

Alastair Cook went past Graham Gooch as the highest runs scorer in England:

With his terrific 153-run-knock, Alastair Cook went past the legendary Graham Gooch as the Englishman to score the most runs in England. Graham Gooch who was topping the charts with 5917 from 74 matches has now been surpassed by Cook who now has 5973 home runs to his name. The elegant stroke player has scored 14 centuries and 30 fifties playing 80 matches on home soil. Cook’s highest score in Tests also came in Birmingham, England, and the batsman can go past his previous best if he continues to play the way he did on the first day’s play. Cook remained unbeaten at the crease at stumps and will resume the batting on the second day with Dawid Malan.

Kemar Roach stars with the ball:

The first day’s play did not turn out well for the West Indians, thanks to Alastair Cook and English skipper Joe Root. Amidst the misery, the only highlight of the West Indian spell was that of Kemar Roach who battled like a one man army at Edgbaston. The bowler was brilliant in his 20 overs and became an only headache for the England batting line up. he took 2 wickets during the day bowling at an economy of 3.60.

His clinical stint was also marked by 5 maidens, which was the highest by a bowler on the first day. He cleaned up debutant Mark Stoneman early in the inning for a score of 8 which gave the West Indies a brilliant start. His second wicket of the day came in the form of Joe Root who looked set at the crease scoring a magnificent century. Roach broke the crucial partnership between Cook and Root as he rattled the timber behind the English skipper.

Rest of the bowlers struggled:

Apart from Roach no other bowler lived up to the expectations and England capitalized on the opportunity. The West Indians shuffled the overs between 6 bowlers including Kemar Roach but 5 of them were significantly poor on the first day’s play. Miguel Cummins picked up a solitary wicket which was that of Tom Westley while the others going by the name of Riston Chase, Jason Holder, Alazari Joseph and Kraigg Brathwaite went wicketless.

English duo Alastair Cook and Joe Root handled the visitors with ease as the bowler failed to make an impression at Edgbaston. England finished the day’s play with 348 runs on the board at the loss of 3 wickets and the team looks set for a mammoth total. The West Indian bowlers will look to come up with a better performance on the second day’s play aiming to restrict the Englishmen within the 500 run mark.