Twitter Reactions: The game hangs in balance as Windies lose quick wickets towards the end of day-1

No team could really gain the upper hand on day-1 of the first Test between Windies and England. But, the Brits would have felt contended with their terrific performance with the second new ball. Some quick wickets got them right back into the game as the game hung out in balance at the close of play on the day.

There was a small rain-interruption on the day after the home team won the toss and opted to bat first. But, that didn’t result in losing out on any overs. A total of 89.2 overs were bowled on day-1. It was a collective effort from the Windies batsmen as they put up 264 runs on the board for the loss of 8 wickets. Kraigg Brathwaite and his partner John Campbell who made his debut scored 40 and 44 runs respectively.

Shai Hope was yet again impressive with a well-stitched 57. However, on his return after over two years, Darren Bravo failed to deliver the goods and walked back to the pavilion for just two runs. It was Ben Stokes who bowled beautifully for a better part of the day. He troubled the batsmen with his lines and lengths.

James Anderson and the love story with the new ball

Yet, Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer forged a comeback after those early wickets fell. It was all going well for the side with Chase already having gone past the 50-run mark until England decided to take the new ball. The Windies, from 240/4 collapsed to 264/8 as James Anderson continued to shine with the new red cherry in hand.

He sent back Chase for 54 and Shane Dowrich, Jason Holder couldn’t counter the swing from Anderson either. It was Ben Stokes who picked the wicket of Kemar Roach in the last over of the day. Windies, though, still have Hetmyer batting on 56 and will hope that he can take them past the 300-run mark on day-2.

Twitterati fell in love all over again watching James Anderson do the talking with the new, shining ball. They were all praise for him and Ben Stokes who did a terrific job with the ball. The Windies batsmen were also applauded but the fans felt bad that they couldn’t utilise the starts ideally.

Here is how Twitterati reacted:

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