Eng vs WI, 1st Test, Day 4: Sibley's Hard-Fought Fifty Helps England Extend Lead To 54 Runs At Tea In Southampton

In-form England opener Dom Sibley scored a hard-fought fifty, and he reaches the landmark after 161 balls.

Photo: Twitter

A hard-fought half-century from opener Dom Sibley and a crucial 42-run contribution from Rory Burns helped England extend their lead over West Indies to 54 runs at Tea on the penultimate day of the first Test of #raisethebat series at Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Saturday.

England openers Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley issued a fine fightback against West Indies in the morning session as the duo added 72 runs for the opening wicket to help their team reach 79/1 at Lunch. In the next session, Sibley and Joe Denly came out in the middle to extend England's lead.

In-form England opener Dom Sibley scored a hard-fought fifty, and he reaches the landmark after 161 balls. Unfortunately for him, just a few balls later, Shannon Gabriel had him caught down the leg side.

Sibbers reaches 5️⃣0️⃣ but falls to Gabriel

Scorecard & Videos: https://t.co/TXUWmqnJnL#ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/PoI87KIX2r — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 11, 2020

Denly and Crawley moved things along nicely for England as they batted patiently to break the confidence of Windies bowling attack. Both batsmen settled in quite nicely to increase the scoring rate and put England on top by bringing up 150 on board, taking a lead of 37 runs.

Roston Chase finally managed to break the strong stand in the 65th over by getting Joe Denly (29 runs off 70 balls) caught out short mid-wicket. With England now three wickets down, skipper Stokes came out in the middle. England (168/3) lead West Indies (318) by 54 runs at tea on Day 4.

Wickettttt Chase picks up his second. Soft dismissal of Denly for 29#WIReady #ENGvWI #MenInMaroon pic.twitter.com/b2lPwZFwY3

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 11, 2020

In the morning session, Burns and Sibley made their way out in the middle to start the proceedings for England with the match slightly in favour of West Indies, leading by 99 runs.

After seeing overcast conditions in the first innings, England finally had the chance to set a good second innings total under the clear blue skies at Southampton.

Burns and Sibley got off to a steady start as they both smashed some boundaries off the Windies bowling attack to keep the scoreboard ticking. The duo added 72 runs for the opening wicket to help their team reach 79/1 at Lunch.

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