Stuart Borad starred for England on the opening day of the series

Broad smiles as England cut to 1-4 for Lord's win

STUART BROAD took six wickets as England seized the upper hand on the first day of the opening Test against the West Indies at Lord’s.

England started the match at 4-9 and despite a day that saw the momentum swing back and forth, they finished it as 1-4 shots with the West Indies, who are 12-1, on 243-9 in the first innings.

Only a superb innings from Windies veteran Shiv Chanderpaul held up England’s progress as he finished unbeaten on 87 and shared a partnership of 81 in the afternoon with Marlon Samuels. Those who bought Chanderpaul’s match runs at 80 with Sporting Index are already in profit with the second innings to come.

That meant that the West Indies were firmly in the contest before a stunning spell from Broad with the second new ball turnedthings in England’s favour.
Broad had been 3-1 to be England’s leading wicket-taker in the first innings and he has also taken a significant lead in the series market, in which he was 10-3 to lead the way.

James Anderson was the only other bowler to take a wicket yesterday as he claimed the first two to fall, and there was also a run-out to help England.

Though Chanderpaul stands in the hosts’ way, England need just one more wicket to finish things off after Broad removed Fidel Edwards in the final over of the day and openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook will have high hopes of taking to the crease early on.

That means it could be a big day for under-fire skipper Strauss, who is 9-4 with Blue Square to score 61runs or more. Opening partner Cook is just 9-5 to pass the same total.

And Strauss is as big as 5-1 to be England’s top runscorer, with the rest of the top four all 7-2.