England skipper, Andrew Strauss, could not have been a happier man. Named England’s Player of the Year, his team won the first Test against the West Indies at Lord’s rather comfortably.
England’s victory at Lord’s has been a rare citing but it was made possible first by the batting of Ravi Bopara, thrust in the number three position, who smacked a delightful 143 that put England on a sure footing early into the match. West Indies’ 152 in the first innings and their 256 in the second innings following on were no match for England who made on the back of Bopara’s sterling efforts and middle order partnership between wicket keeper Matt Prior and Stuart Broad only to be followed up by Graeme Swann’s sixty-three.
England were further bolstered when debutant Graham Onions picked up a five-fer on debut, his five for thirty-eight in three balls short of ten overs allowed England the luxury of enforcing the follow on. Swann picked up three wickets in each innings to be adjudged the Man of the Match for his all round skills that helped England win the match comprehensively against a forlorn West Indies team under Chris Gayle where Brendon Nash’s eighty-one and Denesh Ramdin’s sixty-one in the second innings were West Indies’ only saving grace in the defeat that came in three days.
The defeat for the West Indies overlooked the fact that Fidel Edwards had picked six wickets in England’s first innings. While the West Indies captain chose to blame the conditions and lack of adaptation on the part of the batsmen who have shown a disturbing tendency to wilt suddenly ever so often, excuses though will not win them the second Test at Chester-le-Street.
