England bounced back after what had happened in the Southhampton to win the second Test by 113 runs against West Indies. The match witnessed the return of Joe Root and Joe Denly had to miss out. The team also rested James Anderson. Jofra Archer who broke the protocol of bio-secure bubble missed out as well. Broad who didn’t play the first Test came back to the playing XI, Woakes, Curran joined him.
Batting first, England had a poor start after losing early wickets- thanks to Chase, who picked up a fifer- but Sibley and Stokes turned everything around. The duo not only took their time to settle but also scored tons that put England on top. The hosts declared with 469/9. Batting next, Brathwaite’s 75 gave West Indies a good start and the surprise 32 from night watchman Alzarri Joseph entertained the crowd.
After that, West Indies saw Brooks and Chase crossing half-century but collapse at the low-middle order and lower order resulted in a mess as West Indies ended up with 287. Despite losing a day in the middle, the Test match had all the possibility for the result and they got one. Now, coming back to the second innings, the visitors had enough to avoid the follow-on.
England wanted to attack straight away as Stokes and Buttler opened the innings for the team. However, Butler fell without disturbing the scores. At the beginning of the day five, nobody had work to do as Stokes took on the West Indies bowling, smashed unbeaten 78 off 57.
With more than two sessions to go, England had set up a target of 312 for the visitors. England bowlers came back to do the job right as they dismissed four West Indian batters early. Brooks and Blackwood scored a half-century each but they couldn’t survive to save the Test.
In the end, Holder showed some resistance and scored 35 and Roach did survive for a long time too. However, the visitors couldn’t save the Test match and fell 113 runs short of the target. While Broad’s rampage in the second innings provided the opening, Woakes and Curran followed it up to dismantle the batters.
And with that, England had levelled the series.
Former Australian Cricketer Dean Jones passes away