West Indies have finished the first game of the international cricket in nearly four months in a style, as Jason Holder and his team scripted a famous 4-wicket win over England in the first Test of the three-match Test series in Southampton on Sunday (July 12).
All eyes were on the Windies and England players, as they were playing in different circumstances while it was the international cricket since March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Read Also: ENG v WI 2020: "One of our best victories", Holder jubilant after win in Southampton Test
With this win, the seventh-placed West Indies have not only taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series in England, but also managed to register their first points on the ICC World Test Championship table, getting 40 points from the Southampton Test victory.
Reacting to the famous victory, former West Indies captain Darren Sammy said the Black Lives Matter movement gave extra motivation to Holder and his team in the Southampton Test.
Sammy said on Sky Sports’ latest podcast – The Cricket Debate: “When you have a movement for black lives, and you have a black team come to England - with everything that's going on - that creates extra motivation. And the decision to come over to England and play - there is something special about playing in England that sees West Indians want to rise, and get extra motivated.”
He also pointed out that captain Holder was inspired by Michael Holding's emotional and powerful speech against the racism ahead of the first Test, adding: “You heard Jason Holder say that listening to Mikey (Holding), he felt it in his veins.”
Sammy signed off by saying, “The whole scenario of this Test match, the significance of cricket being back, what it meant to see a black team on TV after this time where the sport has not been played, that provided extra motivation for the West Indies.”
(With India Today Inputs)
