England opener Dom Sibley and all-rounder Ben Stokes bailed out their team on Day 1 of the second Test at Old Trafford after West Indies had threatened to repeat what they did in the first Test.
The duo not only steadied the ship after an initial storm had rattled their team’s top-order, but batted more than 50 overs to give England the advantage. While Sibley remain 14 runs shy of a memorable century, Stokes is batting at 59 as England finished the first day’s play on Thursday at 207/3.
For West Indies, spinner Roston Chase gave them a perfect start as he dismissed opener Rory Burns and England’s highest scorer from last match Zak Crawley off consecutive deliveries. While Burns was trapped infront for an LBW with the reconfirmation of the third umpire, Crawley had edged it to Holder at the firsts slip.
Sibley then partnered with his skipper Joe Root for a steady 53-run stand for the third wicket in the second session. But fast bowler Alzarri Joseph ended Root’s 23 run vigil off 49 deliveries with a classic outswinger that grazed the right-hander’s bat and flew to his counterpart Holder at slip. At 81/3, the hosts found themselves in an uncharted territory when Stokes joined hands with Sibley.
The two dug deep in the third session and defied the warth of the Windies attack that had won the first Test for the visitors at the Rose Bowl last week. Sibley with 253 balls and Stokes with 159, the duo played more than 400 deliveries between themselves.
With rain playing spoilsport, the first session saw only one hour of play on the opening day of the second Test of #raisethebat series. England, who are gunning to level the series here in Manchester, were put to bat by Holder after he won the toss, which was delayed by more than an hour because of rain.
The run-up to the Test was marred by controversy surrounding fast-bowler Jofra Archer, who was ousted from the team for breaking the bio-secure protocol.
But England openers put the distraction behind them and put up a cautious performance in the first session of the day.
West Indies lead the three-match #raisethebat series 1-0.Brief Scores: England 207/3 (Dom Sibley 86, Ben Stokes 59; Roston Chase 2/53)
With agency inputs