Sibley, Stokes endure sluggish start
Dom Sibley's painstaking unbeaten 86 and Ben Stokes' 59 not out helped England recover from an early collapse to be 207-3 at stumps on the first day of the second Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Sibley plays the patience game
Warwickshire opener Sibley batted out the day's 82 overs during more than six hours at the crease on the way to posting his second successive fifty of the series.
Roston Chase provides crucial breakthroughs
England, in a match they have to win to level the three-match contest, were in trouble at 29-2 after off-spinner Roston Chase took two wickets in two balls either side of lunch.
Sibley and Stokes lead England's revival plans
But the twice dropped Sibley and Stokes got England back into the game with an unbroken stand of 126 after they lost the toss in overcast, bowler-friendly conditions.
Off to a shaky start
West Indies' quicks, however, made a wayward start in a match where a win would see the Caribbean side secure a first Test series victory in England for 32 years.
Chase strikes twice
But on the stroke of lunch, Chase struck with just his second ball to have Rory Burns lbw for 15. And the first ball back saw England's 29-1 become 29-2 when Zak Crawley fell for a golden duck after tamely turning Chase straight to West Indies captain Jason Holder at leg-slip.
Captain Root to the rescue
England captain Joe Root, who missed his side's four-wicket loss in last week's first Test at Southampton to attend the birth of his second child, survived the hat-trick and added 52 runs with Sibley for the third wicket.
Alzarri Joseph sends Root back to the pavilion
But young paceman Alzarri Joseph, using the width of the crease, lured Root, then on 23, into chasing a ball outside off stump, with second slip Holder catching a thick edge.
Skipper Holder drops a routine catch
Sibley had a let-off shortly before tea when, on 44, a tough chance went down at short leg off Chase. And he was reprieved again on 68 when the usually reliable Holder dropped a routine slip chance off Gabriel, who had come back on to bowl.
Ben Stokes survives sluggish outfield
Meanwhile the normally fluent all-rounder Stokes, back among the ranks after standing in as skipper at Southampton, needed 119 balls to reach fifty on a day where a sluggish outfield deprived England of several boundaries.
Start a Conversation
Post comment