Eng vs WI, 1st Test, Day 5: Windies Defeat England By 4 Wickets At Southampton To Win First-Ever Test In Covid-19 Era

West Indies now go 1-0 up in the 3-match series to mark the return of cricket amid coronavirus pandemic with a historic win.

Photo: ICC (Twitter)

A resilient inning from Jermaine Blackwood ( 95 runs off 154 balls ) and an excellent contribution from the middle-order powered West Indies to a 4 wicket win against England on Day 5  of the first Test of #raisethebat series at Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Sunday. The visitors now go 1-0 up in the 3-match series to mark the return of cricket amid coronavirus pandemic with a historic win.

With today's win, Windies retain the Wisden Trophy. They had beaten England 2-1 in the last Test series between the two sides on their home soil, last year.

Windies has a dismal record in England in last two decades as it won only two matches, one in 2000 under Jimmy Adams captaincy while the other one came in 2017 under current captain Jason Holder. Today's victory was just the 3rd win for Windies against England on English soil in over two decades.

While hosts England are ranked 4th in the ICC Test rankings, Windies are placed at the bottom of the table at the 8th position.

In the final session, Windies needed 57 runs for victory with Dowrich and Jermaine Blackwood at the crease and a solid six-wickets in hand. The visitors batted brilliantly in the session after Lunch as they scored 108 runs for the loss of just one wicket.

In the 53rd over, after getting caught-off on a no-ball, Dowrich (20 runs of 37 balls) was dismissed by Stokes in the very next ball as he edged the delivery through to the right of Buttler who dived to take a brilliant catch.

Stokes has Dowrich caught behind! ☝️

Is that England's way back into this match?#ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/4m681CdySH — ICC (@ICC) July 12, 2020

Windies were now five wickets down, needing another 32 runs to win and down came to the middle skipper Jason Holder. It was Stokes vs Holder for the fourth time in this Test match. Jermaine Blackwood fell for 95 after a fantastic inning.

The Windies were reeling at 35/3 going into Lunch chasing 200 for a win after England gun-quicks Archer and Mark Wood breathed fire to shave off the top-order but the 73-run stand for the fifth wicket between Blackwood and Chase kept Windies on course for victory.

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