England play West Indies in the second Test in Manchester
England vs West Indies (ENG vs WI) 2nd Test Day 1 Highlights: England scored 207/3 on Day 1 of the 2nd Test vs West Indies in Manchester, with a 126-run unbeaten stand between Ben Stokes (59*) and Dominic Sibley (86*) defining the day and frustrating West Indies.
The opening session was delayed for more than an hour by rain. West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. England reached the Lunch break at 29/1, with Roston Chase’s spin bringing the first breakthrough at the stroke of the interval. Chase brought up a hat-trick ball by removing Zak Crawley for a golden duck as play resumed in the second session. Joe Root got a start but fell for 23 to Alzarri Joseph, who has now dismissed him in 4 of the last 5 Tests they have crossed swords.
England reached the Tea break at 112/3, with Sibley continuing to hold one end up. He reached his 50 in the third session, his second consecutive 50, reaching it after 164 balls. Sibley and Ben Stokes continued England’s dogged resistance after Tea. For the West Indies, it was a day of frustrations in the field. Shannon Gabriel, who struggled with an injury through the day, had a catch dropped off his bowling. Kemar Roach had a narrow DRS call going against him as umpire’s call saved Sibley.
In a cruel joke played by the weather Gods, the Sun has come out in full glory for the first time in the day as we get to close of play. A nod and smile from Stokes towards Holder as he plays out the last ball of the day. England reach close of play at 207/3 after 82 overs. Sibley and Stokes's partnership of 126 has defined the day, with West Indies bowlers returning mostly empty-handed for all their efforts. Sibley (86) and Stokes (59) to resume batting for England on Day 2 tomorrow.
West Indies decide against taking the new ball with three more overs scheduled for the day. The old ball is moving about a fair bit. Also, the Windies pace unit is a tired lot now, might be the better way to get them zipping with the new ball on Day 2. We have seen the defensive side of Stokes's batting today, after he fell in the 40s in the last match. He has resisted the temptation to swing all through the day, barring the one six he hit at the end of the afternoon session. ENG 206/3 after 81
Kemar Roach continues toiling without reward. His last Test wicket was 75 overs ago, his victim being Virat Kohli. He has been one of the most incisive bowlers in the series, but he must be thinking if he ever will take a wicket again. Wicketless in the first Test, wicketless so far in Manchester. ENG 204/3 after 79
West Indies go for an lbw Review against Sibley. Sibley saved by the umpire's call. Roach laughs at the umpire im faux amusement and then bowls a no ball. This has been a day of frustrations for West Indies. ENG 203/3 after 77
Holder and Roach bowling without much threat as we wind down to close of play. Stokes and Sibley bringing runs up with pushes for twos and threes, with the outfield still heavy after the morning's rain. 200 comes up for England. ENG 200/3 after 75, Stokes on 57, Sibley on 82
Stokes, who fell in his 40s both times in the 1st Test, gets to his 50 here, off 116 balls. This partnership is now in triple digits and can be said to have defined Day 1. Holder brings himself back on again with the Gabriel situation set to stretch WI's pace resources. ENG 193/3 after 72
Gabriel continues to stray with line in this final hour. Gabriel pushes one full into Stokes's pads, and the left hander tucks it away on the leg side for four. Sibley and Stokes have done well to force the bowlers into making these mistakes in these late stages. Gabriel is seen feeling his injured leg after bowling a series of wides and no balls. The dropped catch of his bowling will not have helped his mood much. Stokes, on 47, approching his first fifty of the series. ENG 180/3 after 70
Misfield inside the 30 yeard circle by John Campbell, with England possibly having managed to break quite a bit of West Indies' spirit in the last couple of hours. Holder dropping that catch would have compunded matters. Alzarri is straying on the leg side more than ever, Gabriel has bowled a wide ball that has gone to second slip, there are misfields leading to runs. It has been Sibley-time so far, are we now getting close to a Stokes-time counter-attack? He is on 40 off 103 balls now. ENG 171/3 after 68
Gabriel is brought back to bowl, with Chase's extended spell coming to an end. How can Gabriel fare in this spell? A lot of attention on how he does, with his having a clear problem with his left leg. And a catch is dropped in his over! Holder drops a sitter. Gabriel screams in frustration. Pushing his body beyond pain, Gabriel has still managed to work a lot of pace up in that one over. ENG 165/3 after 66
The field has spread out as we enter the final hour, with this pair having lasted almost 200 balls now. In some very troubling signs for the West Indies, Shannon Gabriel is struggling in the outfield. Have West Indies made a blunder in playing him in this match? He was their strike bowler in the first match, but have West Indies erred in pushing him beyond a boundary by playing him here? England rested Anderson and Wood, perhaps for precisley this reason. Ian Bishop discusses who might come in to replace Gabriel in the 3rd Test if it comes to that. Chemar Holder is the pace replacement they have, but they might be tempted to look at Cornwall owing to his previous international success. Stokes is swinging at the occasional short ball now, with Alzarri having been introduced again. ENG 161/3 after 65
Sibley goes for a reverse sweep once again and again fails to connect as England get some more lucky runs as the ball mises everybody. England have been pegged back on this first day, but Stokes and Sibley have done well to give nothing away to stop what could have been a slide of wickets. One hour remains in the day. A partnership of 72 between Stokes and Sibley has propped this innings back up. ENG 153/3 with one hour to go on Day 1
Sibley continues to struggle but still continues to survive. Tries a reverse sweep against Chase and fails. Is rapped on the pads by an inswinger from Holder. This partnership building up will be troubling the West Indies fielders though. ENG 143/3 after 61
Holder, with 2.3 degrees, is getting the most swing among bowlers, a Sky Sports graphic shows. Alzarri is getting 2 degrees, while Roach and Gabriel are getting 1 degree. An extra slip in place for Holder, as Sibley continues fending away. Maiden over, with Holder resisting the temptation to go for an lbw review off the last ball. Spin continues from the other end, with Gabriel still only having bowled 7 overs today. Stokes gives Chase the charge with a lofted shot but the ball stops in the outfield. 50 partnership comes up with that. He finds a solid connection later in the over to bring up a boundary. ENG 139/3 after 58 overs
Holder brings himself on with two slips and a gully in place for Stokes. Has a broad smile on his face as Stokes almost prods at one. Holder brings one back into his pads later in the over. Chase gets a ball to grip and draws an edge from Stokes, getting first slip interested, but Stokes survives. This partnership now worth 49 off 149 balls. ENG 130/3 after 56
Chase continues with Roach. Considering that West Indies will probably not get a chance to bowl with the second new ball today, might it have been a good strategy to save Chase for a long spell for the end of the day? The low light has already been an issue before today, Chase might come handy towards the end of the day in that respect too. Gabriel is back on the field after the Tea break, even though he is looking a bit stiff. Holder has not bowled an extended spell so far today. ENG 125/3 after 54
Stokes goes down on his knees and swings at Chase but misses. Chase is not getting as much turn as he was at the beginning of the day, England can look to attack against him. Sibley moves to his 50, off 164 balls, with a push on the leg side. ENG 120/3 after 52
A slow start to the session. But this is set to be a long session because of the rain delay, Stokes could punish West Indies if he can stay till the end of the day. A run out shout as Sibley gets a rare run off the bat against Chase. Two runs come off the bat in the next over from Roach. ENG 116/3 after 51
Two maiden overs from Roach and Chase to start off proceedings after Tea. Apart from Stokes's six against the run of play towards the end of the 2nd session, there has been little attacking intent from the England batsmen. Summed up by the Boycott-esque innings played by Sibley. He is on 46 off 151 balls now. There have been two boundaries in that knock. First runs after the break come through a front foot no ball from Roach. ENG 113/3 after 49 overs
Dom Sibley will now have batted across three sessions, as he waits outside the ground. The umpires are in the middle. It does not look like they are in too much concern about the light at the moment. The light meters are out. No probelms on that. Stokes and Sibley step in. Kemar Roach, still looking for his first wicket in the series, to bowl the first over of the third session.
The umpires seen having a discussion with Holder as the players headed off. If a guess is to be made as to what that was about, it's probably about the low level of light. The floodlights have been on all through today, with dark clouds hanging over Manchester, but the umpires were seen checking their light meters towards the end of the second session. Fingers crossed that play will resume without hitch in the third session.