The West Indies will begin Day 3 of the second Test match, at the Kensington Oval, Barbados on 71/1 in reply to England’s 507/9 declared. They will look to bat all day after Thursday’s play was lit up by a brilliant innings from Ben Stokes.
Stokes started his innings after the dismissal of Dan Lawrence at the stroke of stumps on Day 1. He needed no time to get into his stride, and scored 89 runs in the morning session, His captain Joe Root, already past his hundred, was content to play second fiddle.
Root went immediately after lunch, for 153, but Stokes, who passed 5,000 runs in Test cricket during the innings, brought up his 11th Test hundred. He eventually fell for 120. A 75-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Ben Foakes and Chris Woakes took the score past 500 before the declaration eventually came.
Matt Fisher, making his debut, had John Campbell caught off only his second ball in test cricket, but Kraigg Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks saw the rest of the day out unscathed.
The question that remains to be answered is in there anything in the pitch for the spin bowlers? In between being clattered to all parts of the ground by Stokes, Veerasammy Permaul did get the occasional ball to turn. England’s Jack Leach, who spins the ball more, has so far failed to find anything. However, if the surface does begin to deteriorate, then he may find some joy later in this match.
However, with two debutants in their bowling line-up, England lack experience, and may wish that at least one of the pair of James Anderson or Chris Broad were available to them. With Nkrumah Bonner – a man they struggled to dismiss in Antigua – yet to bat, they could be in for a long day in the field.
Fantasy Tips
- The West Indies to bat through the day and have reduced the deficit to 150 by stumps;
- Leach to take wickets late in the day;
- Bonner to again prove a thorn in English sides.