At the end, there were just 89 deliveries to spare. The second Test, just as the first one, went down to the final session of day five as E...
At the end, there were just 89 deliveries to spare. The second Test, just as the first one, went down to the final session of day five as England registered a 113-run victory in Manchester. West Indies tried their best to sneak a draw but the hosts, powered by the irrepressible Ben Stokes, were simply too strong.
England had their backs to the wall heading into the contest. They’d been outplayed in the first Test and just before the start of the second game, they were dealt a massive blow as Jofra Archer was ruled out for breaching the team’s bio-secure protocols. Add to that, James Anderson had been rested and the captaincy was changing hands again as Joe Root returned. There was a lot of uncertainty around the hosts.
Once the match began, though, it was England all the way. Aided by Jason Holder’s ill-thought-out decision to field first, they posted a mammoth 469/9. The Windies were then bowled out for 287 but luckily for them, the entire third day’s play was washed out.
England were forced to go for broke in their second innings to set a target and have enough time to bowl West Indies out again. They declared at 129/3 and the visitors were left with 312 runs to win...
