NORTH SOUND: England lost four wickets in the first session of the first Test against West Indies on Tuesday in an all-too-familiar tale of woe at the top of the batting order that left the hosts firmly with the early upper-hand.

Opening bowler Kemar Roach claimed two scalps, most vitally that of England captain Joe Root for 13 as the visitors fell into a deep hole, 57-4 at lunch on the island of Antigua.

Two months after enduring a 4-0 Ashes drubbing by Australia in which they were unable to find anyone to consistently support Root at the top of the batting order, England have referred to the short Caribbean tour as a chance for a “reset”.

England have won only one series away against West Indies in the past half century, and while the Caribbean team no longer boast the top-to-bottom brilliant pace attack of yesteryear, they are not exactly to be taken lightly.

Veteran Roach took little time trapping a surprised debutant Alex Lees lbw for four with a ball that nipped back after the previous few deliveries had moved away off the seam.

Jayden Seales at the other end was too wide early, but was rewarded when he finally found his line, coaxing Zak Crawley (8) into getting an inside edge that was superbly caught one-handed by wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva.

Roach, meanwhile, had given Root a nice first ball sighter that was smartly cut for four and the England captain later got lucky with a slash that Jermaine Blackwood could not hold at gully.

But the captain departed seconds later when he left a ball that worked back enough to rattle the top of the bail.

Jason Holder later had Dan Lawrence (20) caught at second slip with a delicious outswinger, before Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow tempered their natural aggression to carefully see England through to the break.

A circumspect Stokes took no risks, taking 14 balls to get off the mark as he and Bairstow both crawled to five not out at lunch as they dug in in the knowledge that their partnership could help define the match one way or the other.

Earlier, Root won the toss and decided to bat on a dry-looking pitch. England left out Saqib Mahmood, while West Indies omitted Kyle Mayers and Anderson Phillip from their 13-man squad.

Players on both teams are wearing black armbands to honour Australian spinning great Shane Warne, who died last week at the age of 52.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings):

A. Lees lbw b Roach 4

Z. Crawley c Da Silva b Seales 8

J. Root b Roach 13

D. Lawrence c Blackwood b Holder 20

B. Stokes not out 5

J. Bairstow not out 5

EXTRAS (NB-2) 2

TOTAL (for four wickets, 24 overs) 57

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Lees), 2-17 (Crawley), 3-27 (Root), 4-48 (Lawrence).

YET TO BAT: B. Foakes, C. Woakes, C. Overton, M. Wood, J. Leach.

BOWLING: Roach 8-2-31-2 (2nb), Seales 5-3-11-1, Holder 5-5-0-1, Joseph 6-0-15-0.

WEST INDIES: K. Brathwaite (captain), J. Campbell, N. Bonner, S. Brooks, J. Blackwood, J. Holder, J. da Silva (wicket-keeper), A. Joseph, K. Roach, J. Seales, V. Permaul.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2022