NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom – Harry Brook’s unbeaten fifty guided England into a commanding position at stumps on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge.
England closed Saturday on 248-3 in their second innings, leading by 207 runs.
Brook, not out on 71, and star batsman Joe Root, unbeaten on 37, built a solid partnership, sharing an unbroken stand of 108 in just over 23 overs. England maintained control against a wavering West Indies attack, with Ben Duckett contributing 76, his second brisk fifty of the match, and Ollie Pope adding 51 to his first-innings 121.
The West Indies briefly fought back after a change of ball altered their luck, with paceman Alzarri Joseph dismissing both Duckett and Pope, turning England’s solid position of 127-1 into a shaky 140-3. However, Root and Brook stabilized the innings, scoring briskly against a tiring West Indies pace attack.
England began their second innings trailing by 41 runs, thanks to a resilient last-wicket partnership of 71 between Joshua Da Silva (82 not out) and Shamar Joseph (33), which lifted the West Indies to 457. This marked the first time in nearly a decade that the West Indies had posted a total of 450 in a Test innings.
Was unfortunately run out for three
Zak Crawley, out for a duck in England’s first innings, was unfortunately run out for three when Jayden Seales deflected a Duckett drive onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Pope then regained momentum with three consecutive fours off Seales, while Duckett swept off-spinner Kevin Sinclair for three fours in succession, reaching a 55-ball fifty.
However, the first delivery following the ball change ended the second-wicket partnership of 119, as Pope edged Joseph to Sinclair in the gully. Joseph then bowled Duckett lbw with an inswinging yorker.
Brook counter-attacked and completed the third fifty of the innings by driving Joseph elegantly to the long-off boundary, accumulating five fours in 62 balls. Despite setbacks, the West Indies could draw some confidence from their batting performance, which showed significant improvement from their innings-and-114-run defeat at Lord’s.
The West Indies resumed on 351-5, 65 runs behind, with Kavem Hodge (120) and Alick Athanaze (82) sharing a 175-run partnership that revived their innings from 84-3. England, playing their first home Test since 2012 without the retired duo James Anderson or Stuart Broad, struggled on Friday.
Chris Woakes removed Jason Holder on an overcast morning and then dismissed Joseph and Seales with successive deliveries before Shamar Joseph survived the hat-trick ball, finishing with figures of 4-84.
Boundaries flowed
“I haven’t got Jimmy or Stuart Broad at the other end any more but I haven’t felt more pressure because of that,” Woakes told reporters. “I try to stay in the moment; and at this stage of my career, playing my 50th Test, I’ve got enough experience behind me to know what works for me.”
Da Silva reached an 87-ball fifty by launching fast bowler Mark Wood high over extra cover for a spectacular six, and later took the West Indies past 400 with an extravagant uppercut six off Wood.
“It was pretty much what I expected,” Da Silva said. “I thought I’d get a few more short balls from Mark Wood but it was nice.”
Boundaries flowed from both ends, with Shamar Joseph pulling Gus Atkinson for six to level the scores. Atkinson, fresh from 12 wickets on debut at Lord’s, conceded another six as Joseph sent him onto the roof of the Larwood & Voce Tavern.
“He backs himself with the bat; he played some terrific shots,” said Da Silva.
England Captain Ben Stokes turned to Root to break the stand, but Da Silva attacked the part-time spinner for three fours and a six in succession. Wood eventually had Shamar Joseph chipping to mid-on, his only wicket of an innings during which he consistently bowled over 97 mph (156 km/h) and repeatedly beat the bat.
