The hosts, England, beat West Indies by eight wickets to secure two points. England won the toss and put West Indies into bat at Rose Bowl Cricket ground in Southampton. West Indies had their bit of luck when the star batsman Chris Gayle was dropped early on in the innings.
But West Indies never showed a real fighting spirit. They lost wickets at regular intervals. English bowlers were good with the new bowl. They mixed things up and didn’t allow the West Indian batsmen to settle in. West Indies were able to score 212 only and were all out within the forty-fifth over.
English pace man Mark Wood picked up three wickets. Woods was supported very well by the Sussex man, Jofra Archer. Archer showed signs of individual brilliance and was able to make the ball swirl in the air at the start of West Indian batting. He picked up three crucial wickets.
212 never looked a decent enough total. But West Indies has a decent pace attack which could have given them a glimpse of hope. But not to be as none of the West Indian bowler looked picking up wickets. Though Gabriel did pick a couple of wickets but it was too late by then.
Joe Root of England scored a century which was cheered by the capacity crowd at South Hampton.
Finally we had some action in the ICC Cricket World Cup after a wash out yesterday at Nottingham. The match between India and New Zealand was abandoned because of heavy rain. Three games have been called off because of torrential rains.
Sri Lanka will take on Australia at the Oval in London tomorrow. Australia is a much stronger and balanced unit in comparison to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka will have to play really well in order to make a match of it.
