Windies in control but Stokes keeps England alive

ENGLAND captain Ben Stokes rallied his side with four wickets on day three of the Test but the West Indies were still able to leave the field with an enviable 99-run lead. The tourists established a firstinnings gap of 114 as they produced a disciplined total of 318 at the Ageas Bowl, but their advantage might easily have been even larger had Stokes not summoned four for 49, his best figures in two years. He shouldered the burden after Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, selected ahead of Stuart Broad for their superior pace, turned in a combined return of one for 135, despite the latter’s fierce speed. Stokes, who appeared to be struggling with soreness as he worked through his decisive final spell, accounted for top-scorers Kraigg Brathwaite (65) and Shane Dowrich (61) as well as his fellow all-rounder and rival skipper Jason Holder. While he was unable to match the latter’s previous efforts with a five-wicket haul, his dismissal of Alzarri Joseph did bring his Test tally to 150. James Anderson accepted England are ‘up against it’ after yesterday’s action. ‘The West Indies have had the best of the first few days certainly, we are up against it,’ he said. ‘But we know exactly what we’ve got to do. If we bat well tomorrow and get a decent lead, get a bit ahead, we can give ourselves a chance of bowling them out in the fourth innings of the game. ‘It’s not been our best performance with bat or ball these last few days so we’ve got work to do in the next couple. I don’t know about the pitch breaking up but it might get a little bit lower as the game goes on. ‘We’ll need a little bit of luck. We don’t want it to deteriorate too much tomorrow obviously and then on the final it can do as much as it wants.’ Anderson praised Stokes’ contribution, picking up the slack with three of the last four wickets to fall in the evening, adding: ‘Ben did a brilliant job. There were some decent miles in the legs of me, Jof and Woody so when he got those wickets at the end it as crucial. ‘I thought Woody and Jofra bowled really well, but you have days like this in Test cricket. Jofra got a wicket off a no-ball if he gets that, his confidence goes up and he could get on a roll. Similarly with Woody, I felt he bowled well in periods and on another day he could have had more wickets.’ West Indies opener Brathwaite, whose 65 is the current top score of the match, said: ‘England bowled well and it was really challenging throughout the day, always aggressive,’ he said. ‘So I think Dowrich and I did a good job for the team. It’s a low scoring game but I still think it’s a decent pitch and once guys get in runs can be scored.’ The three-match series is being played without fans in a biosecure environment with daily health checks, home umpires and a ban on shining the ball with saliva.