Hours before the 2nd Test began England were hit by a drama. Frontline seamer Jofra Archer was dropped for breach of biosecurity protocol. The apparent breach happened when Jofra visited his flat in Brighton while driving from Southampton to Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, like the first Test, rain gods once again hit the second tie. After a two-hour delay, West Indies won the toss and elect to bowl first. The visitors were unchanged from their last Test but England made four changes to their team. Mark Wood, James Anderson, Joe Denly, and Jofra Archer made way for captain Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Stuart Broad.
Just like in the first match, players took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley took guard as Kemar Roach opened the bowling for West Indies. Roach started things off brilliantly bowling some excellent lines outside off stump. Initially, he troubled Burns with serious pace which led to a couple of LBW shouts early on in the innings.
England vs West Indies 2020: Day Report
Soon after a short spell by Roach and Shannon Gabriel, skipper Jason Holder introduced himself and Alzarri Joseph into the attack. Both of them hit the target spots as the England batsmen looked in a spot of bother. When just a few overs before lunch, off-spinner Roston Chase was brought into the attack and he struck immediately. Chase caught Burns plumb in front of the wicket to give his side some respite.
Roston Chase continued to make his presence felt removing Zack Crawley off the very first delivery he faced. He got out trying to nudge the ball on the leg side only to find Jason Holder at leg slip.
Up next was England captain Joe Root at 4. Root and Sibley built a partnership of 52 runs until the Root decided to go for a wild drive of Joseph only to get caught at 2nd slip by Holder.
West Indies have been slightly sloppy in the field today since then as the home side took full advantage. Shamarah Brooks and Jason Holder have dropped Sibley when he was batting at 48 & 68. Sibley soon went on to score his 3rd fifty in 8 Test matches. Ben Stokes also joined Sibley in scoring a half-century as they put up a partnership of 126 runs at the end of the day.
Brief Score – England 205/3 (Sibley – 86*, Ben Stokes – 59*; Roston Chase – 2/53, Alzarri Joseph – 1/41)