West Indies hit back after Stokes’ six skittles them out
LONDON: Kemar Roach and Jason Holder hit back, picking two wickets each and reducing England to 46/4 at stumps after West Indies were bowled out for a platry 123 on the first day of the third and final Test at Lord’s on Thursday.
Roach accounted for both the openers, Mark Stoneman and Alastair Cook before Holder removed Tom Westley and skipper Joe Root to0 bring their side back into the game.
At the close of play, Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes were on 13 each, having added unbeaten 22 for the fifth wicket.
Earlier, Stokes picked his fourth five-wicket haul, 6 for 22, to skittle out West Indies who had elected to bat in seaming conditions.
James Anderson picked the first two wickets to send jitters in the WI camp before the second Test hero Shai Hope and Kieran Powell rebuilt the innings with a 56-run stand.
That, however, ended with Toby Roland-Jones getting Hope caught at slip off an edge.
Ben Stokes took three wickets in quick succession as West Indies were reduced to 119 for seven at tea.
Anderson was unable to add to his tally with the Lancashire swing king still a tantalising one away from becoming the first England bowler to take 500 Test wickets.
But all-rounder Stokes kept England on top, taking three for 22 in an unchanged 13-over spell spanning nearly two hours.
He returned after tea and mopped up the tail, picking the remaining three wickets quickly.
Holder’s side upset the odds by chasing down a target of 322 to win the second Test at Headingley by five wickets and level the three-match series at 1-1.
But they struggled in overcast conditions and only when Powell and Hope -- fresh from Headingley scores of 147 and 118 not out, his first two hundreds in Test cricket -- were sharing a partnership did West Indies look like getting back on level terms.
Toby Roland-Jones, recalled on his Middlesex home ground after being dropped in favour of all-rounder Chris Woakes at Headingley, then got in on the act. Brief scores West Indies 123 all out (K Powell 39, S Hope 29, B Stokes 6/22) vs England 46/4 (B stokes 13*, D Malan 13*, J Holder 2/18, K Roach 2/21)