ENG vs WI: 2nd Test – Talking points from second day’s play
England dominated the second day of the second Test against West Indies at Old Trafford, Manchester. Ben Stokes and Dominic Sibley continued their partnership from the previous day and kept West Indies in the field for a long time. Both batsmen celebrated their centuries as the home side eventually reached 469/9 declared. Shannon Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph struggled with their fitness and it was Roston Chase who claimed a five-wicket haul. West Indies then had to bat out the remaining 14 overs and they did so with a loss of their opener John Campbell. They are trailing by 442 runs. Here are the major talking points from the day.
Sibley-Stokes ground West Indies
Beginning the day from the overnight score of 207/3, Sibley and Stokes showed the same steely resolution to stay at the crease. The duo fought over after over to deny West Indian bowlers a comeback into the game. Sibley brought up his second Test century after facing 312 balls and it included only four boundaries. His partner was left not out on 99 as the teams took lunch. Stokes also brought up his century later and once past the milestone, started batting more positively. The pair added 260 runs for the fourth wicket. It was Sibley who fell for 120 in a bid to accelerate.
Relief for Roach
Kemar Roach already has a place amongst all-time top 10 wicket-takers for West Indies. The experienced fast bowler was expected to be lethal on this tour. However, he went wicketless while his partners shared 20 English wickets. Even in this Test, the fast bowler was on the wrong side as he failed to claim a scalp for long. He had bowled 86.5 overs across Tests since his last wicket. Roach broke the streak with the wicket of Stokes who was dismissed for 176. And guess what! Roach nicked another scalp on the very next ball as Chris Woakes edged one to Shai Hope.
Chase takes five
West Indies played both the Tests with their four daunting seamers. They did not pick their specialist off-spinner, Rahkeem Cornwall, and instead relied on the off-spin skills of Roston Chase. The innocuous spinner had already surprised everyone on the opening day as he took two wickets in two balls. He continued to dismiss the Englishmen today as well and finished with 5/172 in 44 overs.
Roston Chase gets his 3️⃣rd fifer in Tests and his 2️⃣nd against ENG?
Congrats Roston! ??#ENGvWI #WIReady #MenInMaroon pic.twitter.com/ljdUtkAqO0
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 17, 2020
