Joe Root and Jamie Smith lead England's fightback against West Indies on Day 2 of the third Test at Edgbaston, with Root scoring 87 and Smith remaining unbeaten on 57.

West Indies versus England Test Series, 2024

3rd Test

Day-2 Afternoon Session Highlights:

Joe Root and Jamie Smith has helped England team to comeback in the Edgbaston Test

Smith scored a crucial fifty in the post-lunch session. © Getty

At the Tea of Day-2:

West Indies scored 282 (1st Innings), where as England scored 274/7 (1st Innings).

So, finally West Indies lead by 8 runs.

Joe Root’s 87 and an important unbeaten 57 from Jamie Smith helped England narrow the deficit on Day 2 of the third Test against West Indies.

Root was involved in a century stand with Ben Stokes before adding 62 in partnership with Smith, bringing England closer to West Indies’ total after being reduced to 54/5 earlier in the day.

England went into tea at 274/7, needing 8 more runs to level the scores with West Indies.

In the first over of the second session, Alzarri Joseph was struck for a boundary each by Stokes and Root.

Stokes’s four brought up his 33rd Test fifty, while Root’s boundary made him only the seventh player to surpass 12,000 Test runs.

The partnership reached 115 before a short ball from Alzarri had Stokes caught at square leg, marking Alzarri’s 100th Test wicket.

Smith then gloved a short ball attempting a pull off Alzarri before dispatching another short ball over the deep midwicket fence.

Root, meanwhile, continued untroubled, cutting one late off Gudakesh Motie for a four as he reached the 80s.

Smith settled in well, assisting Root in building a strong partnership, scoring regular boundaries and rotating the strike efficiently as their stand crossed 50 in quick time.

He targeted Motie, cutting away a short ball and sweeping the spinner effectively.

The ball was changed a couple of times, and Root also changed his bat.

Root seemed set for a century before falling to a straight ball from Motie, playing for non-existent spin and getting trapped in front.

Smith carried on and brought up another fifty, and with support from Chris Woakes, raised a 40-plus stand to narrow the deficit.

Earlier, England were rattled early by West Indies in the first session, being reduced to five down with just over 50 on the board.

West Indies missed an opportunity to send Root back early in the day as they didn’t review a leg-before shout that was turned down.

However, they soon found success as Shamar Joseph got Ollie Pope to inside edge one onto the stumps, and Harry Brook departed in the next over, poking at a delivery outside off to edge to the ‘keeper, with Seales becoming the fifth youngest West Indian to reach the 50-wicket milestone.

The quick wickets did not prevent Root from playing his shots.

Having surpassed Brian Lara’s tally of 11,953 runs to take the seventh spot among leading run-scorers in Tests, Root struck a few boundaries off Alzarri.

Stokes had an edgy start but hung in to build a partnership with Root, both batters scoring at a good rate.

Root also surpassed Alastair Cook’s tally (869 runs) to become the leading run-getter at Edgbaston.

West Indies lost a review early in the second hour after they opted for DRS despite Shamar striking Stokes on the thigh pad.

They bowled a few tight overs before Stokes decided to attack, hitting boundaries off Jason Holder and sweeping spinner Motie for a six, leading to a century stand before the break.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *