West Indies U19 stalled after a fine start against their English counterparts in the First 'Test' at Grace Road, Leicester.

After rain had caused a three-hour delay, the West Indian openers Brenton Parchment and Devon Smith seemed determined to make up for lost time. They got their side off to the perfect start with a blistering stand of 100.

The English bowlers served up far too many loose deliveries as the West Indian century came up in just 15 overs, with a remarkable 20 fours and a six.

But the tea interval and a further rain break enabled England, led by Durham's Nicky Peng, to regroup. James Tredwell, the Kent off-spinner, was brought into the attack and had immediate success as Smith drove his first ball into the grateful hands of Andrew McGarry at mid-on. Smith's 54 had occupied just 48 balls and included 11 boundaries.

Parchment went into his shell after his partner's dismissal, and was eventually trapped lbw by left-armer Justin Bishop for 62 (97 balls, 10 x 4, 1 x 6).

Peng's introduction of medium-pacer Gordon Muchall into the attack proved to be an inspired move. Muchall squeezed a ball past the highly-rated Patrick Browne to bowl him for 25 and, as the English bowlers tightened up on both line and length, Tonito Willett perished after a patient 12.

West Indian wicket-keeper, Vishal Arjune, was the last to go; hitting Lancashire's James Anderson to Nicky Peng to leave honours even after the first day of four. But England will be delighted to have clawed their way back into the game after a testing first session.

© CricInfo