Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett Fall Late; England 38-3 at Stumps

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett fell late in the evening session. As a result, England struggled at 38-3 at stumps on the opening day of the third Test against the West Indies. Zak Crawley was dismissed by Jayden Seales while Duckett was out to Alzarri Joseph’s delivery that hit his own stumps. Nightwatchman Mark Wood also got out to Seales, leaving Ollie Pope and Joe Root to navigate a tricky final period.

Earlier, England’s bowlers had rallied to restrict the West Indies to 282, thanks to Gus Atkinson’s four-wicket haul and Chris Woakes’ three. Despite a strong start from the West Indies at 115-5, Jason Holder (59) and Joshua Da Silva (49) played crucial innings, adding 109 runs and boosting their total. England had hoped for a quicker finish but struggled to dismantle the West Indies’ resistance, eventually seeing the final five wickets fall for just 58 runs.

West Indies’ openers initially put up a solid front, reaching 76 without loss. However, England’s bowlers eventually broke through with Atkinson removing Mikyle Louis and Wood dismissing Kirk McKenzie with a quick delivery. Alick Athanaze was also out to Atkinson reducing the West Indies’ solid start.

England’s Chris Woakes reflected on his role as the senior bowler, emphasizing the importance of leading by example and putting the ball in the right areas. The day’s events set up an intriguing second day with England needing a strong response to recover from their late collapse and assert their dominance.