On 8th July 2020, the newest chapter in the history of international cricket was written in Southampton, England. The gentleman’s game of cricket was back albeit without any audience in attendance at The Rose Bowl. England and West Indies began the first day’s play of the first test match with all the cricketing fans glued to their screens on TV or streaming devices. But the start of play was delayed by 3 hours due to persistent light rain at Southampton. When the weather got a bit better on day 1, England won the toss and decided to bat on an overcast afternoon with some moisture on the pitch of The Rose Bowl.
Kemar Roach ran in and bowled the first delivery to Rory Burns, and the three months of waiting for the fans to watch international cricket was over. West Indies struck early in the second over as Shannon Gabriel knocked the stumps of Dom Sibley for a duck, and the score at that time read 0/1.
Shortly after, Rory Burns scored the first runs of international cricket as flicked away Kemar Roach in the third over for a single down to the fine leg. Few minutes later at the end of the third over, the rains returned and the play was stopped as the umpires signaled for the covers. England’s score was 1/1 with Rory Burns on 1 and Joe Denly on 0. For you as a bettor, it’s important to have the latest news and information about the players, teams, venue, and weather by availing the cricket betting tips from Bhaiji to bet efficiently on the matches.
After a 30-minute rain delay, the play resumed with palpable tension among the players. But just as everyone thought that we are going to see some continuous play, rains intervened again at the 4.1 over the mark. The score of England was 3/1 with Rory Burns on 2 and Joe Denly on 1. An hour later, the play was restarted as the rains subsided but with thick clouds around The Rose Bowl, the floodlights were on. Play went on for an hour with both English batsmen batted sensibly and ensured no more wickets were lost. At 17.4 overs, England were 35/1 with Rory Burns on 20 and Joe Denly on 14.
As the dark clouds started to hover around the stadium, the umpires decided to take an early tea break. But with no improvement in natural light and subsequent rains coming in shortly after, the play was called off for the day by the umpires. The first day of international cricket was a stop-start occasion but the fans didn’t mind it much as they got to see some live cricket after a long time. With the forecast not looking good for day 2 at The Rose Bowl, we might have more rain interruptions. Weather is expected to get better on the last three days of the match so the teams will still be pushing for a result in this test match. You can place the wager on cricket matches with the use of the cricket betting tips free from Bhaiji for having the best chance of earning lots of betting rewards.