Windies put pressure on England after rain-delayed start in Manchester

Manchester, July 16

England were 112-3 at tea after losing wickets at regular intervals on the opening day of the second test against West Indies in Manchester on Thursday.

Opener Dom Sibley (46) and all-rounder Ben Stokes (18) added 31 runs for the fourth wicket as the hosts trod cautiously in overcast conditions, with the lights also switched on at Old Trafford.

The lunch break was bookended by a pair of wickets for Windies all-rounder Roston Chase, who dismissed opener Rory Burns and Zak Crawley with his part-time off-spin.

Chase trapped Burns leg-before for 15 at the stroke of lunch, while Crawley flicked his first ball straight to Windies captain Jason Holder at leg-slip.

England skipper Joe Root, who missed the first test to attend the birth of his child, stitched a 52-run partnership together with Sibley to stabilise the innings.

Yet West Indies paceman Alzarri Joseph returned after the drinks break to remove Root, who edged an outswinging delivery to Holder in the slip cordon.

Sibley was dropped at short-leg just before the tea break to deny Chase a third wicket.

West Indies suffered a setback when seamer Shannon Gabriel, who claimed nine wickets in the first test, left the field to get treatment on a reported a groin issue.

Earlier, West Indies won the toss and Holder chose to bowl first to take advantage of seamer-friendly conditions after rain delayed the start of the match.

England are without Jofra Archer after the fast bowler breached the team’s bio-secure protocols while top order batsman Joe Denly has been dropped to make way for Root.

Mark Wood and James Anderson have also been rested with the trio of Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes named in the playing 11.

West Indies, who won the first test in Southampton by four wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, named an unchanged team.

The series is being played in a bio-secure bubble without spectators in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reuters