Stokes lifts England after WI pacemen breathe fire
leeds — West Indies were 19 for one in reply to England’s first-innings 258, a deficit of 239 runs, at stumps on the first day of the second Test at Headingley on Friday.
kraigg Brathwaite was 13 not out and nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo one not out.
Earlier, England all-rounder Ben Stokes made exactly 100 and captain Joe Root, who won the toss, 59 as he led his country for the first time on his Yorkshire home ground.
Both batsmen, however, were dropped in the slips on single figures. All-rounder Stokes was dropped for a second time on 98 when a simple chance was shelled at mid-on.
Those three misses, which equated to 142 runs, took the edge off an improved West Indies bowling effort. Recalled fast bowler Shannon Gabriel took four wickets for 51 runs in 17 overs and new-ball partner kemar Roach four for 71 in 19.5.
England lead the three-match series 1-0 after an innings and 209-run victory in the inaugural day/night Test in Britain completed inside three days at Edgbaston last week.
Both the second Test at Headingley and the series finale at Lord’s are taking place during standard hours with a conventional red ball.
Earlier, Gabriel led a much-improved West Indies bowling effort as England struggled to 156 for six at tea. Joe Root, the England captain, equalled AB de Villiers’s record for the most consecutive Test fifties but fell soon afterwards for 59.
Ben Stokes, dropped on nine, was 45 not out and Moeen Ali three not out.
The West Indies were widely castigated for an inept all-round display during an innings and 209run defeat inside three days in the inaugural day/night Test in Britain at Edgbaston last week that saw them go 1-0 down in this threematch series.
But fast bowler Gabriel (two for 38 in 15 overs) and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (one for 27 in six), recalled in two changes to the team that played in Birmingham, were both in the wickets on Friday.
The West Indies would have been in an even stronger position but for their ongoing poor fielding which saw both Root (8) and Stokes dropped the slips while both in single figures.
Gabriel had bowled 24 no-balls in a pink-ball warm-up fixture against Derbyshire prior to the first Test. —