Centuries from Dom Sibley and Ben Stokes Friday helped England press home their advantage over the West Indies by tea on day two of the second Test at Old Trafford.
England were 264-3 at the end of a wicketless first session in which the hosts added 57 runs in 26 overs — the kind of rate that took Test cricket back to the old days.
Sibley beat Stokes in their painstaking crawls to the milestone, bringing up his second Test hundred with a straight drive for three runs about 10 minutes before lunch. The opener gave a big fist pump to celebrate his 312-ball century, England's fifth slowest since 1990.
Sibley would hole out to Roston Chase for 120 in the second session as he tried to push the scoring.
Stokes, in the meantime, had stepped on the accelerator after lunch when he went to three figures. By tea, Stokes was 172 and England were 378-5.
Again it was Chase who moved the needle for the West Indies, trapping Ollie Pope for just seven.
At the crease with Stokes is Jos Buttler on 12.
Chase now has figures of 4-106, while the West Indies had to do without Alzarri Joseph, the other wicket-taker, for part of the day after the pacer complained of tri-cep pain. Joseph has figures of 1-70.
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