Southampton Test: Rain plays spoilsport, England end day one at 35/1

Southampton [UK], July 8 (ANI): Rain played a spoilsport on the day one of the first Test between England and West Indies as the cricketing action resumed after a hiatus of 116 days here at the Ageas Bowl on Wednesday.
In the rain-affected match, the day one witnessed only 17.4 overs of play in which England scored 35/1. England won the delayed toss and opted to bat first only to suffer an early hiccup as Shannon Gabriel scalped opener, Dominic Sibley, on a duck.
Rory Burns and Joe Denly then played cautiously and stitched a brief partnership of 35 runs before the day's play ended.
Earlier in the day, international cricket resumed behind closed doors keeping all safety protocols in check.
This was the first time in the 143-yea-long history of Test cricket that the match was played without any crowd.
England and West Indies cricketers took a knee to show their solidarity against racism and support the 'Black Lives Matter' movement before the start of the play.
A minute of silence was also observed before the start of play to pay respect to the victims of the coronavirus pandemic and West Indies legend Everton Weekes, who passed away last week at the age of 95. (ANI)

Raj Kantak

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