Kemar Roach bowled an absolute scorcher to dismiss last Test’s man of the match, Ben Stokes to give West Indies an early edge. Earlier in the day, Jason Holder won the toss and put England to bat.
Openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley didn’t have the ideal start to the innings as Roach was quick to dismiss Sibley in the very first over lbw. Windies pacers continued to trouble the England batsmen as they were unable to find a way out of the brilliant line and length the pacers were sticking to.
Roach rattled Stokes’ timber
To add to that, Joe Root and Rory Burns struggled against Rahkeem Cornwall’s off-break. Root especially faced some trouble facing Cornwall. This didn’t last long as the English skipper was soon run out trying to steal a quick single off Roston Chase’s arm. The next man in was Root’s deputy Ben Stokes.
Stokes started off pretty well, it looked as if he was carrying his form from the last Test. With few drives and solid defence, the No.1 all-rounder was up for another big score. In the process, Jason Holder brought Roach back in the attack.
Soon Kemar Roach cleaned up Ben Stokes defence with a nip back delivery. Stokes was waiting back just an inch ahead of the crease anticipating a fuller delivery. Roach bowled a scorcher which came back in after pitching, cleaning through the solid defence of Stokes.
The defence had a huge gap between bat and pad, enough for the delivery to sheer through. Stokes was seen changing his stance going back and forth to Roach early on in the over.
As soon as Stokes went back into his crease Roach bowled a shorter delivery. West Indies had their man as he was back in the pavilion after scoring just 20 this time. Rory Burns soon followed the suit as the home side reels at 122 for the loss of four wickets.
Watch the video here:
Big wicket for the tourists.
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/pvF724ZqtE#ENGvWI #RedForRuth pic.twitter.com/mWTz67aOQI
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2020