West Indies vs England, 3rd Test, Day 2, Highlights: West Indies Lead By 28 Runs vs England At Stumps

We are moments away from the action. The players of England are out in the middle. Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell are the openers for West Indies. Chris Woakes to start with the ball. Three slips in place and a widish gully...

Pitch Report - Mark Butcher is near the pitch. He says the pitch on Day 2 sees live grass but the pitch has dried out. He is joined by Chris Woakes. He says the ball was doing much and it kept the batters on their toes. Adds that the last wicket stand was huge for them and it was an amazing achievement and they are certainly happy from what they were first. Tells that holding the length will be crucial with the ball. If you overpitch, runs will come but they need to stick to the basics.

Phil Simmons, the West Indies coach, says that he got no problems and adds that they bowled pretty well in the first two sessions. He adds that it gets harder to blast opposition when the ball get softer and credit should be given to two batters in the middle. Adds that he is still happy with the total in the end tells that they need to bat well with the new ball. Mentions that playing all-seam attack was due to the nature of the pitch  and adds that Veerasammy Permaul performance was not as good as they expected from him in the first two games, so they decided to make that change.

Day 2 promises to be yet another riveting day of Test cricket and it all depends on how Windies batters tackle the threat of new ball against the English seam-attack on a pitch with good amount of help for the seamers. Unlike the first two games, this game is likely to be a low-scoring encounter and first innings lead can play a crucial part in this decider. The wicket seems to be easing out a bit as was evident on the latter part of Day 1 and England would like to make the most of the new ball in the first session of Day 2. An interesting first session coming up. Stay tuned.

Hello and a warm welcome to Day 2 of the third and final Test match of this three-match Test series between West Indies and England. Day 1 turned out to be quite an engrossing one as the wicket had a good amount of life in it and that made the contest between bat and ball, an interesting one. However, English batters failed to show application for the most part of the day and were staring down the barrel at one point in time. However, Windies bowlers who were quite disciplined throughout the day, let the momentum slip away in the final session as the last wicket pair of Jack Leach and Saqib Mahmood added 90 runs.

... DAY 2, SESSION 1 …

Right then, this has been an engrossing day of Test cricket! England are back in this game and have momentum on their side now and that makes Day 2 even more interesting. The first ball will be bowled at 7.30 pm IST (2.00 pm GMT). Our coverage though will start well in advance. So do join us for the same. Till then, goodbye and cheers!

West Indies will be gutted with how they have let the advantage slip from their pocket after working so hard and bowling so well throughout the day. The pitch provided them with some help and Windies bowlers were on-target almost throughout the day as they bowled nagging lines and lengths. Kyle Mayers was the one who started the collapse and all other bowlers cashed in. At one point of time, it seemed quite possible that England would be bowled out even under 100 but some very poor body language in the last hour or so of the day with some strange tactics have put West Indies in the spot of bother now. They need to bat well on Day 2 now, as the pitch will aid English bowlers, especially with the new ball and it will be interesting to see how things pan out on Day 2.

However, one cannot forget the poor performance by the English batters and once again, their fragility and over-dependence on Root was exposed on the pitch that has some help for the bowlers. The batters failed to show application that is required on a pitch like this and it was finally the duo of Leach and Mahmood that showed the way and brought them out of the jail in the final session. It would have been much worse for them and the batters need to pull their socks up and now it will be interesting to see how their bowlers go about their business on this pitch.

What a day of Test cricket! Take a bow, Jack Leach and Saqib Mahmood. England were down and out but this partnership has taken them to safer shores now. They were 90-8 at one point in time and are now looking in a decent position with more than 200 on the board. This is what Test cricket is all about, it is tough and one cannot put the foot off the paddle at any stage. West Indies were lacklustre as the final wicket partnership started frustrating them and all credit should be given to Leach and Mahmood for showing the grit and fight when their team needed it the most.

Would you believe it, West Indies finally get a wicket off the last over of the day. England have been bowled out for 204 but not before we have seen history been made by the last wicket pair of Saqib Mahmood and Jack Leach!

OUT! CHOPPED ON! Finally, West Indies get the wicket. A floated ball, on a length and outside off. Saqib Mahmood tries to hoick it on the leg side but gets a bottom edge and it ricochets onto the stumps. What a superb innings it was from Mahmood and from Leach as well. One to remember for a long time. England are all-out on 204 and that will be Stumps on Day 1.

FOUR! Thumped! Mahmood showing aggression!  Fuller and on off. Mahmood comes down the track and hammers it past the bowler and straight down the ground for a boundary.

Flatter and around off. Mahmood punches it gently to covers.

Shorter and angling on off. Mahmood tucks it off the back foot to mid-wicket.

Jermaine Blackwood to bowl the last over of the day.

Flighted, full and on off. Blocked out.

Slower through the air, around off, pushed back to the bowler.

Floated ball, on middle. Leach defends on the back foot.

Angles a fuller ball, around off. Leach hangs back to block it out.