England limp to 114/8 at Tea

England struggled in the second session, losing five wickets © AFP
West Indies pace quartet of Kyle Mayers, Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar made merry on a green Grenada surface as England crashed and burned their way to 114 for 8 at Tea, with Chris Woakes and Jack Leach waging a defiant fight in the face of a collapse.

West Indies had an excellent start after Kraigg Brathwaite chose to bat on a surface that had live grass on and some moisture underneath. Brathwaite's call to go with an all-seam attack - picking Mayers in place of Veerasammy Permaul - paid early dividends as all the quicks beat both the edges of the bat of the openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley. It was Mayers who eventually broke through, when Crawley played a tame cover drive straight to the skipper at short cover. Mayers then got Joe Root to be tentative in his forward prod to a ball in the fourth stump channel, and nick it behind for a nine-ball duck. Jayden Seales picked his first wicket before Lunch too when a sharp inducker trapped Dan Lawrence plumb in front. This, as it turned out, was just the beginning.

The true mayhem was unleashed in the first hour of the post-Lunch session, starting with the massive wicket of Ben Stokes who hit a short ball from Alzarri Joseph back to the bowler. Alex Lees, who escaped out of the morning session quagmire, was sucked in by a back of a length Kemar Roach delivery that shaped away a touch and carried the outside edge with it to the keeper.

Jonny Bairstow was snuffed out with a fine set up from Joseph in just the next over, as the ball before the wicket delivery pitched on length and seamed back in to zip through quickly but the next ball seamed slightly away to catch Bairstow in a quandry. The keeper-bat ended up edging it to the keeper. Seales knocked back Chris Woakes's stumps to deny any chance of a partnership as England limped to drinks break at 85 for 7.

Even 40-plus overs in, the nip backers were coming with a bit of venom in them. One such ball saw the back of Craig Overton, as exaggerated movement off the pitch took the ball through the bat-pad gap and onto the stumps. Leach and Woakes pushed through with a short alliance to get to the Tea break.

Brief Scores: England 114 for 8 (Alex Lees 31; Alzarri Joseph 2-22, Jayden Seales 2-28) vs West Indies