No need for panic, typical day in Test cricket – West Indies vice captain

Written by Paul-Andre Walker. Posted in Windies. | 16 July 2020 | 2293 Views
Tags: Cricket, #Raisethebat Series, Ben Stokes, Dom Sibley, England, Kraigg Brathwaite, Videos, West Indies, Wisden Trophy

West Indies vice-captain, Kraigg Brathwaite said his side would not panic despite a strong showing from England on the first day of their second Test in the #RaiseTheBat series at Old Trafford, Manchester on Thursday.

Thursday featured a century partnership between England vice-captain Ben Stokes, 59 not out, and opener Dom Sibley, 86 no out, which helped the hosts recover from 81-3 to end day one on 207-3.

Earlier Roston Chase had breached the top-order defiance of Sibley and Rory Burns, removing the latter just before lunch for 15. Chase was back at it straight after lunch, getting rid of Zak Crawley, who had scored 76 in the second innings of the first Test, this time for a duck.

England captain, Joe Root, who looked in good shape, was setting up an England fightback when Alzarri Joseph, 1-41, had him driving to a delivery that swung away from him and left his shot in the big hands of Jason Holder at second slip.

There were to be no further reasons to smile for the West Indies who bowled 50.4 wicketless overs at Stokes and Sibley.

There was a chance after Shannon Gabriel’s half volley outside Sibley's off stump was edged to Holder, who was making his first mistake of the series, beaten for pace to see the chance floored.

“It was a typical Test day. I thought England batted well. They were very patient,” said a calm-sounding Brathwaite of the day’s events.

According to Brathwaite, while the West Indies did not grab many wickets, the team bowled well enough to still be in the game.

“I know we just got three wickets but I still think we were in the game. We didn’t give away any quick runs,” said Brathwaite.

The West Indies vice-captain expects more runs to be scored on the Manchester wicket than was the case in the first Test at the Ageas Bowl.

“It’s a decent pitch, so you know when we get a chance to bat you know, we just have to be patient and believe in ourselves,” he said.

“We would have loved more wickets but we kept in touch. It was good from us. We kept pressure on, it was just unfortunate that we didn’t take some of the chances.”