North Sound (Antigua and Barbuda) (AFP) - West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales broke a promising fifth-wicket partnership between Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow to leave England still uncomfortably placed at 145 for five at tea on the opening day of the first Test in Antigua on Tuesday.
In the home side’s only success of an afternoon session in which 88 runs were scored, Seales removed Stokes for 36 as the left-hander dragged a full-length delivery onto his leg-stump midway through the period.
His stand of 67 with Bairstow rescued the visitors from 48 for four in the morning after captain Joe Root opted to bat first on winning the toss.
Bairstow, who goes into the final session of the day on 35, has found another resilient partner in Ben Foakes, the wicketkeeper-batsman contributing 21 to a sixth-wicket stand so far worth 30 runs.
In stark contrast to the grit of their lower middle-order, England’s fragile top-order batting was again exposed within the first half-hour of the match with Root’s dismissal eliciting the greatest celebration from the West Indian players.
He was the second wicket for Kemar Roach after the senior seamer had removed debutant opener Alex Lees via a leg-before decision in the day’s third over.
Seales then accounted for the other opening batsman, Zak Crawley, in the next over via an outstanding low diving catch by Joshua da Silva as the wicketkeeper reacted to a sharp inside-edge from an attempted forcing off-side shot.
England appeared to finally have a bit of fortune going their way when Root was missed by Jermaine Blackwood at third slip off Roach, the ball racing to the third man boundary.
But off the very next delivery the premier batsman opted to offer no shot and the ball angled into the right-hander and moved in just enough to clip the top of the off-stump.
Stokes joined Dan Lawrence and the pair looked to be coping well enough to at least survive before Jason Holder, who bowled five consecutive maiden overs in the morning, drew Lawrence into a forward prod for Blackwood to make amends in the slips and give the former captain his first wicket.
On a pitch expected to offer assistance to the slow bowlers as the match wears on, West Indies opted to go into the game with left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, who is playing his first home test for seven years in support of the four-man seam attack.
Batsman Kyle Mayers and uncapped pacer Anderson Phillip were omitted from their 13-man squad.
As expected, England left out seamer Saqib Mahmood in preference for specialist spinner Jack Leach in their final eleven from the 12-man squad named two days earlier.
It is a combination showing six changes from the final match of their abysmal Ashes series in Australia which ended with a final abject capitulation under lights in Hobart less than two months ago.
