Alastair Cook scored 243 in first test against West Indies. (Source: Reuters)
After scoring a magnificent double-hundred against West Indies in day-night Test match at Edgbaston, former England captain got a perfect reward for his efforts as he climbed to 6th spot in MRF Tyres ICC Player rankings for Test batsmen. Cook gathered six points following his record 243 against Caribbean team.
This is Cook’s highest ranking since he surged to number five in March 2013.
England captain Joe Root has returned to the 900-point mark following his 13th career century. For scoring 136, Root received 14 points, which has taken him to 905 points – 36 behind Australia captain Steve Smith, who will defend his number-one ranking in the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh.
Hosts England rode on a brilliant partnership between Root and Cook to score 514/8 (d) in first innings during England’s first ever Test match. The rain interrupted the match on a number of occasions but it didn’t effect the result as the Englishmen wrapped the match within three days.
Claiming a total of 19 wickets in one single day, England bowlers ripped apart West Indies batting line up at Edgbaston. Beginning their first innings from 44/1, West Indies had a horrifying start of the day as they lost Kyle Hope and Powell early in the day.
England’s quicker bowlers kept troubling the Windies batsmen and wrapped the first innings for 168 to eventually enforce a follow-on. The fortunes didn’t change for West Indies in the second innings either and they lost wickets at regular intervals only to get bowled out for 137. This was England’s first ever day-night Test and they stamped authority after winning the clash by an innings and 209 runs
