Third Test, evening session, day two: West Indies 123 & 93-3 (S Hope 35* Chase 3*) England 194
With the clock beneath Father Time ticking round to 5.17pm, Jimmy Anderson lined up at the top of his run at Lord’s, the imposing members’ Pavilion rising up behind him, to deliver the final ball of his second over in the West Indies second innings. Kraigg Brathwaite, the West Indies opener, looked up to see him in that familar, polished roll to the wicket. A split second later, Brathwaite was staring back at broken stumps, Anderson was surrounded by congratulatory team-mates and history had been made: the Burnley Express had steamed his way through 500 Test victims, the first Englishman to do so.
Treated to a standing ovation, the swing bowler, perhaps with a tear in his eye, had come full circle: it was at Lord’s that the adventure had begun, against Zimbabwe, in 2003 when Mark Vermuelen, the hot-headed opener, was his first victim. Heath Streak, the captain, followed, along with names more easily forgotten such as Andy Blignaut, Travis Friend and Douglas Hondo.
Vermuelen was dismissed with Anderson’s 18th ball in Test cricket; Brathwaite with his 28,140th.
When Anderson returned after an opening spell of five overs, he grabbed No 501, nipping out Keiran Powell with another beauty. Stuart Broad chipped in by removing the hapless Kyle Hope leg-before but with West Indies eating up their deficit, Anderson risked blotting his copybook on the occasion of his greatest achievement, getting two warnings from umpire Marius Erasmus for running on the pitch and arguing the point with the official.
Some time earlier, Anderson had helped Broad add 31 for England’s last wicket, extending their lead to 71 in what has so far been a low-scoring encounter.
That England reached 194 was largely down to Ben Stokes, who hit an invaluble 60 to add to the six for 22 that decimated the West Indies middle order in their first innings, and Broad, who plundered unorthodox runs to become second top scorer..
Stokes backed up his career-best bowling figures with another fine fifty, from 51 balls. He had had to reset himself on three occasions, having been forced off late last night by bad light and within 20 minutes of a delayed start this morning, but such inconveniences had little impact on his approach, the punchy, fully-committed strokes still flowing from his blade.
That said, Holder would have been kicking himself for dropping a captaincy clanger when England resumed in the afternoon after a break that lasted the best part of two hours. With Stokes so strong on the drive, Holder opted to remove his third slip and strengthen the cover field. Immediately Shannon Gabriel got a length ball to explode outside Stokes’s off stump and although Kyle Hope made a great effort to reach it from second slip he couldn’t hold on to a chance that would have been meat and drink for a third slip.
Stokes, on 24 at the time, compounded those feelings of disappointment by drilling the next delivery through mid-on for four. When he reached his half-century he had hit 40 in boundaries.
In a first session in which rain allowed only 20 minutes’ play, West Indies had shot out Dawid Malan. Roach moved one up the hill from the Nursery End and found the thinnest of outside edges. He had added seven to his overnight 13 and the score was 63 for five.
Jonny Bairstow had faced only three balls when the rain returned and when he got back out there, he never looked better than scratchy, often being beaten by the moving ball from Roach and Holder. Ironically, he had just played his most confident shot of the day, an extra cover drive off Roach for four, when the seamer ran one back into him and trapped him in front.
If Holder had been disheartened by the earlier miss of Stokes he would have been furious when he brought back Gabriel, who found a way through the batsman’s defence and clipped his bails only for the replay to show that he had overstepped – a recurring problem for his strike bowler
There was a huge sense of relief, then, when Gabriel repeated the dismissal three balls later, this time with his front foot in a legal position.
Moeen was forced to stretch for an outswinger from Roach and drove to gully but Broad survived a threatening induction from Roach to plunder important runs. His technique these days comprises hurrying away towards square leg while clearing his front leg and throwing his hands way from his body at the ball.
When he uppercut Roach for four, Holder put in a third man but Broad simply swatted squarer, collecting a couple of maximums. Having hit 38 from 45 balls he toe-ended a pull off Holder to give the Barbadian a fourth wicket.
Any delight Holder felt was soon diminished as Anderson struck and when Kyle Hope was removed for a single by Broad, England’s two wicket-takers could reflect on jobs well done.
Powell, who has batted much more confidently and with much better judgment in this Test, showing glimpses of his talent, had driven wonderfully straight for four to move within five of a half-century when Anderson produced a wonder-ball to dismiss him – a good length delivery delivered from round the wicket that swung and seamed past the left-hander’s outside edge and delicately lifted the off bail from the groove.
Shai Hoope continued to defy the England bowlers, even when tested by a couple of daunting bouncers from Stokes and by the close, at 7.30 they had moved 22 ahead.
Third Test afternoon session day 2: West Indies 123 v England 194
Ben Stokes (again) and a skittishly attacking Stuart Broad enabled England to claim a lead of 71 when they were bowled out for 194 at the end of an extended afternoon session at Lord’s.
Stokes added a 12th Test fifty to his six for 22 in the West Indies first innings, while Broad smashed two sixes and four fours in a quickfire 38 that was more effective than easy on the eye
Kemar Roach’s bowling stood out for the tourists, the paceman, one of only three bowlers captain Jason Holder used, finishing with a deserved five for 72 from his 24 overs.
West Indies would have expected to have limited England to a lead of about 20 after Shannon Gabriel had got rid of dangerman Stokes.and when Moeen Ali followed shortly after, the score was 134 for eight.
But some carefree hitting from Broad, and some that was more technically proficient from Toby Roland-Jones, a useful man to have at No 9, England managed to add 60 for the last two wickets – runs that may prove crucial in a low-scoring contest.
Stokes backed up his career-best bowling figures with another fine fifty, from 51 balls. He had had to reset himself on three occasions, having been forced off late last night by bad light and within 20 minutes of a delayed start this morning, but such inconveniences had little impact on his approach.
That said, Holder would have been kicking himself for dropping a captaincy clanger when England resumed after a break that lasted the best part of two hours. With Stokes so strong on the drive, Holder opted to remove his third slip and strengthen the cover field. Immediately Shannon Gabriel got a length ball to explode outside Stokes’s off stump and although Kyle Hope made a great effort to reach it from second slip he couldn’t hold on to a chance that would have been meat and drink for a third slip.
Stokes, on 24 at the time, compounded those feelings of disappointment by drilling the next delivery through mid-on for four. When he reached his half-century he had hit 40 in boundaries.
In a first session in which rain allowed only 20 minutes’ play, West Indies had shot out Dawid Malan. Roach moved one up the hill from the Nursery End and found the thinnest of outside edges. He had added seven to his overnight 13 and the score was 63 for five.
Jonny Bairstow had faced only three balls when the rain returned and when he got back out there, he never looked better than scratchy, often being beaten by the moving ball from Roach and Holder. Ironically, he had just played his most confident shot of the day, an extra cover drive off Roach for four, when the seamer ran one back into him and trapped him in front.
If Holder had been disheartened by the earlier miss of Stokes he would have been furious when he brought back Gabriel, who found a way through the batsman’s defence and clipped his bails only for the replay to show that he had overstepped – a recurring problem for his fastest bowler
There was a huge sense of relief, then, when Gabriel repeated the dismissal three balls later, this time with his front foot in an acceptable position.
Moeen was forced to stretch for an outswinger from Roach and drove to gully but Broad survived a threatening induction from Roach to plunder important runs. His technique these days comprises hurrying away towards square leg while clearing his front leg and throwing his hands way from his body at the ball.
When he uppercut Roach for four, Holder put in a third man but Broad simply swatted squarer, collecting a couple of maximums. Having hit 38 from 45 balls he toe-ended a pull of Holder to give the Barbadian a fourth wicket.
