83.5 OVERS: FOUR! Ben Stokes (65*) hit the first boundary of the day off Alzarri Joseph, a thick outside edge to the third man fence. England 213/3
* Alzarri Joseph will start from the other end. New ball not taken.
83 OVERS: England 207/3
Shannon Gabriel started the day with a maiden over.
HERE WE GO….West Indies cricketers and the two England batsmen – Sibley and Stokes – are ready in the middle. Gabriel will start the proceedings for the Windies. Jason Holder hasn’t taken the new ball yet.
* Day 1 brief score: England 207/3 at stumps vs West Indies. Dominic Sibley 86* & Ben Stokes 59* | Roston Chase 2/53
* Cloud cover in Manchester, but no rain. Play should start at the scheduled time, i.e 3:30 pm IST, today.
General view of the Old Trafford stadium before play on Friday. (Reuters Photo)
England coach Chris Silverwood: “I think we’re in a good position, obviously we need to bat well and capitalise on it. We’ve seen two very good partnerships there. Dominic concentrates very well, he’s willing to bat for long periods of time and that’s what we needed at the top so the middle order can come in when the bowlers are a bit more tired.”
Watch Day 1 highlights below:
Watch back a day of old school Test cricket in Manchester! ????????FULL HIGHLIGHTS: https://t.co/rW9ZyiysKA… https://t.co/929knFNJwT
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) 1594969260000
A very good morning, afternoon, evening, whichever part of the world you are logging in from to join us. We are glad to have you back to take you through live proceedings as action unfolds on the day two of the second Test between hosts England and the West Indies at Old Trafford, Manchester.
After play started late on a wet Thursday morning, England built a solid platform by getting to 207/3 at stumps on day one thanks to patient half-centuries from Dom Sibley and Ben Stokes, who handed over the captaincy duties for the Test back to Joe Root.
England were wobbling at 81/3 before Sibley and Stokes shared an unbeaten 126-run stand to give the hosts the upper hand on a day when only 82 overs were bowled.
Opener Sibley remained unbeaten on 86 while Stokes also took his time to get settled on a damp pitch before reaching 59 not out at stumps.
England are without Jofra Archer after the fast bowler was dropped for the Test for breaching the team’s bio-secure protocol.
West Indies lead the three-match series 1-0 having won the first Test in Southampton by four wickets.
