Manchester Test: Stokes, Sibley guide England to 207/3 on day one against Windies
Jul 17, 2020
Manchester [UK], July 17 : Dom Sibley and Ben Stokes guided England to 207/3 at the end of the first day of the second Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford Stadium.
At the close of play, Sibley and Stokes remained unbeaten on 86 and 59 respectively.
The match witnessed a delayed start due to rain. However, the action finally resumed after a halt of 1.5 hours.
Windies won the toss and opted to field first looking at the overcast conditions. England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley saw off the first ten overs and the duo was looking quite settled at the crease.
However, right on the cusp of lunch break, spinner Roston Chase trapped Burns (15) right in the middle and as a result, the left-handed batsman was adjudged leg-before wicket and England went into the interval at 29/1.
Chase provided another breakthrough to Windies as soon as the session after lunch started. The spinner had Zak Crawley (0) caught at leg-slip at the hands of Jason Holder, reducing England to 29/2.
Skipper Joe Root came to the middle next and he along with Dom Sibley, retrieved the inning for the hosts as the duo put on 52 runs for the third wicket.
However, as soon as England started to gain an upper hand, Windies got the breakthrough of Root (23) as Alzarri Joseph sent him back to the pavilion, reducing England to 81/3.
Ben Stokes then joined Sibley in the middle and the duo ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the tea break, taking England's score to 112/3.
After the tea interval, both Stokes and Sibley mixed caution with aggression to put England in a decent position. Both batsmen saw off the day and ensured that the side comes out to bat on the second day with seven wickets in hand.
On the first day of the match, 82 overs were bowled by the visitors.
