THE PINK BALL EXPERIMENT

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.

Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham [August 17-21, 2017].

In the summer of 2017, the English Cricket Board decided to go for the pink-ball experiment. Previously Australia has hosted a couple of day-night test matches which got them positive results in terms of revenue and viewership. As a result, the English too decided to try their hand at this new phenomenon.

Birmingham was selected as the venue for the first pink-ball test on English soil. The opponents were the West Indies, who were touring England to play 3 Test matches, 5 ODIs and a T20 international. Interestingly, it was the first test, which was supposed to be the pink ball test. Hence, everyone was excited for the same.

English Captain Joe Root won the toss and decided to bat first on what looked like a batting paradise. However, it was the visitors who got off to a great start as they reduced the hosts to 39/2 as Captain Joe Root joined Alastair Cook in the middle. The game was on a knife-edge. But this is when the duo of Root and Cook stitched a partnership of 248 runs and brought their side back into the game. Root played a captain's knock of 136 as he took his side to a commanding position. However, Roach bowled a snorter and bowled him out. Nevertheless, Cook continued to dominate from his side as he scored a monumental 243 runs off 407 deliveries. It is pertinent to note that Cook batted for around 10 hours as England declared at a massive total of 514/8.

In response, the Windies total was 44/1 when stumps was called for Day 2. The duo of Anderson and Broad were literally bowling fire with the pink ball. It was almost inevitable that the Windies would get blown away by the English bowling attack. But no one could have imagined that the hosts would dismiss 19 batsmen in a single day and would wrap up the test match on the third day itself. The Windies were bowled out twice in just 93 overs as England won the test match by an innings and 209 runs.

The visitors looked clueless on day 3 as they were bowled out for 168 runs in the first innings and 137 in the second. Anderson and Broad led from the front as the English dismantled the opposition. The pink ball and cold weather with swing and seam made the English bowling more lethal.

Alastair Cook was awarded the Man of the Match Award as England took a 1-0 lead in the series. Interestingly, since then we have not had a pink ball test on the English soil.

To watch the Highlights of the Test Match, Click Here.

To watch the Innings of Sir Alastair Cook, Click Here.