Harry Brook’s Unbeaten Fifty Leads England to Strong Position Against West Indies at Stumps on Day 3

Harry Brook’s unbeaten fifty steered England into a strong position at stumps on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge.

England were 248-3 in the second innings at the close on Saturday, already leading by 207 runs.

Brook was 71 and star batsman Joe Root was unbeaten on 37 as the Yorkshire duo shared an unbroken stand of 108 in 23.4 overs.

England were in control against an exciting West Indies attack as Ben Duckett made 76, his second spectacular fifty of the match, and Ollie Pope added 51 to their first innings 121.

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But a change of ball led to a change of fortune for the West Indies, with paceman Alzarri Joseph removing both batsmen as England’s 127-1 soon turned into 140-3.

Root and Brook, however, restored England’s grip on the match as they scored briskly against a tiring West Indies pace attack, with a third-day pitch still providing an excellent batting surface.

England opened their second innings 41 runs behind after being frustrated by an aggressive stand of 71 between Joshua Da Silva (82 not out) and Shamar Joseph (33) that took West Indies to 457.

It was the first time West Indies had made 450 in a Test innings for almost a decade.

Zak Crawley, dismissed for a duck in England’s first innings, was then run out for three unfortunately after Jayden Seales deflected a Duckett drive onto the stumps at the bowler’s end.

But Pope underlined England’s determination to restore momentum with three wickets from successive Seales deliveries.

The left-handed Duckett was also in fine touch, sweeping right-hander Kevin Sinclair for three wickets in a row on his way to a 55-ball 50.

But the first delivery after the change of ball ended a second wicket partnership of 119 when Pope edged a low Alzarri Joseph delivery to Sinclair at gully. The bowler’s excellent inswinging yorker then had Duckett lbw.

But Brook fought back by advancing down the pitch to drive Jason Holder for four.

Brook then completed his third fifty of the innings, elegantly controlling Alzarri Joseph at long-on for a fifth four in 62 balls faced.

Even so, the West Indies could enjoy a more creditable batting performance as they were dismissed for just 121 and 136 during an innings and 114-run defeat by England at Lord’s.

That left them 1-0 down in this three game series.

Da Silva Rampage

West Indies resumed at 351-5, 65 runs behind, after Kavem Hodge (120) and Alick Athanaze (82) shared a stand of 175 that revived them from 84-3.

England, in their first Test at home since 2012, without retired duo James Anderson or Stuart Broad – who between them took 1,308 Test wickets – had struggled on Friday.

But an overcast Saturday morning promised to help England’s patients, armed with the new ball, as Jason Holder (23 not out) and Da Silva (32 not out) tried to reduce the deficit.

Chris Woakes removed Holder and then dismissed Alzarri Joseph and Seales with successive deliveries before Shamar Joseph survived the hat-trick ball as the Warwickshire seamer took 4-84 in his 50th Test.

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Da Silva, however, completed an 87-ball 50 in spectacular style when he launched fast bowler Mark Wood over extra cover for six.

And the wicketkeeper then took West Indies past 400 with a flamboyant uppercut for a six off Wood.

The boundaries came at both ends, with Shamar Joseph blasting fast bowler Gus Atkinson – fresh from 12 wickets on debut at Lord’s – for six to level the scores.

Two balls later, Atkinson fell short again as Shamar Joseph lifted him for another six that sent tiles off the roof of the Larwood and Voce Tavern.

England captain Ben Stokes turned to Root to crack the stand but Da Silva hammered the part-time spinner for three wickets in successive sixes.

Wood eventually had Shamar Joseph chipped at mid-on, his only wicket of the innings in which he topped 97 mph (156 kmh) and edged the outside edge.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)