Pope scores century, Windies take 10 wickets on day one

NOTTINGHAM, England (CMC):

SIX WICKETS after tea enabled West Indies to bowl out England in the second Test of the Richards-Botham Trophy Series yesterday, after Ollie Pope led powerful batting for the hosts with his sixth Test hundred.

Alzarri Joseph and Kavem Hodge grabbed four wickets between them in the final session to spur a comeback for the Caribbean side, but the visitors could not fully overcome their earlier indiscretions, and Pope rode his luck to hit 121 before the English were dismissed for 416 in their first innings about half-hour past the scheduled close on the first day of the match.

Joseph and new-ball partner Jayden Seales shared five wickets between them, but they were guilty of erratic bowling that undermined the West Indies effort after they shocked the world and decided to field on the notoriously batsman-friendly Trent Bridge pitch under sunny skies.

Joseph ended with three for 98 from 15.3 overs, and Seales finished with two for 90 from 15 overs, but they were clearly not at their best, and the England batsmen feasted on them to pile up their highest first-day total on home soil since World War II.

Opener Ben Duckett cracked 71, England captain Ben Stokes made 69, Chris Woakes added 37, Harry Brook got a quickfire 36, and Jamie Smith, the same score in a strong show from the English batting.

Fortunately, Hodge grabbed two for 44 from 10 overs with his part-time left-arm spin and off-spinner Kevin Sinclair – a late inclusion after his left-arm spin bowling, fellow Guyanese Gudakesh Motie woke up with the flu – bagged two for 73 from 22 overs to try to limit the damage.

Energetic fast bowler Shamar Joseph was also tidier than Alzarri Joseph and Seales, but he limped off the field in the final over before tea with a recurrence of the leg cramps that hampered him in the first Test at Lord’s, further hamstringing the Caribbean side.

The day started brightly for West Indies when Alzarri Joseph got lanky England opener Zak Crawley caught at third slip for a duck with the third ball of the match – but the visitors soon lived to regret their decision to field when the bowlers haemorrhaged boundaries, and the home team reached 134 for two at lunch.

It started to unravel for the Caribbean side when Seales conceded 19 in his first over – the second of the match – and Duckett struck him for a beaver-trick of fours, forcing the pacer out of the attack after only two overs that cost 28.

Alzarri Joseph gave away 30 in an opening spell of five overs, West Indies finding no answer for the onslaught with England galloping to 50 from only 26 balls – the fastest known in a Test.

Jason Holder brought a measure of control with his medium-fast bowling, but Duckett reached his 50 from only 32 balls – the third fastest by an English batsman – when he steered the lanky paceman to third man for his 11th boundary.

Shamar Joseph ended the fun for Duckett, whose 59-ball knock included 14 fours, when the left-handed England opener, on his home turf, was caught at second slip during a period that the Caribbean side managed to stem the flow of runs.

Seales almost struck another important blow for the visitors in the final over before lunch when Pope, on 47, tried to cut a delivery too close to him, but gully fielder Alick Athanaze spilled a sharp chance.

Two wickets between lunch and tea kept West Indies interested, but Pope tempered their elation when he reached his milestone from 143 balls with his 15th four, flicked through square leg off Seales, anchoring England to 259 for four at tea.

REGULATION

The Caribbean side had a chance to remove Pope, on 54, in the fifth over after lunch, but Holder put down a regulation take at second slip off Shamar Joseph. Still, it was not all bad news for the visitors during the session.

Seales got Joe Root caught at mid-on for 14 from a miscued pull, and Sinclair got Brook caught at short leg from a top-edged paddle-scoop after the young England batsman dominated a stand of 59 for the fourth wicket with Pope.

After tea, Alzarri Joseph got Pope caught at slip in the fifth over, but Stokes, with whom he added 80 for the fifth wicket, carried on merrily to reach his 50 from 71 balls.

In an effort to improve the over rate and rest the pacers before the second new ball, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite gave Hodge an extended spell, and the part-timer captured his first Test wicket when he got Stokes caught at deep mid-wicket after the England captain put on 61 for the sixth wicket with Smith.

Hodge added the scalp of Smith caught at long-on, and Sinclair got Gus Atkinson caught at slip for two before Brathwaite claimed the second new ball, with which Seales and Alzarri Joseph brought a topsy-turvy day for West Indies to a close with the last two English wickets.

The Caribbean side trail 1-0 in the three-match series after they lost the first Test that ended last Friday – inside three days – by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s.