West Indies avoids 2-day test defeat against England, trails by 171 runs

Soon-to-retire James Anderson dismissed West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite for the very last time as England took total control of the first test at Lord's though the visitors managed to avoid a two-day defeat.

West Indies was 79-6 in its second innings at stumps Thursday, still trailing England by 171 runs. Joshua Da Silva is 8 not out.

England had resumed the second day on 189-3 and was all out at an early tea for 371, a commanding innings lead of 250. Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith scored 70 on his test debut. The 23-year-old, who leapfrogged 100-cap veteran Jonny Bairstow and Surrey teammate Ben Foakes to get the nod in a new-look XI, hit eight fours and two powerful sixes in an eye-catching cameo that justified the selection panel's leap of faith.

 

Opener Zak Crawley top-scored with 76, Joe Root was out for 68, and Ollie Pope (57) and Harry Brook (50) also contributed half centuries.

Pacer Jayden Seales took 4-77, with two wickets each for Jason Holder and spinner Gudakesh Motie. Brook skied a top-edge off Alzarri Joseph (1-106) before Motie bowled the ball of the match, ragging one out of the footmarks to floor England captain Ben Stokes' middle stump. The left-armer followed up by bowling Root past the outside edge but the England lead was already spiraling.

The 41-year-old Anderson, playing his 188th and last test, struck early in West Indies' second innings, bowling Brathwaite to leave the visitors on 12-1 with a classic bail trimmer between bat and pad to delight a crowd that had come to say goodbye. The bails hopped from their perch and Anderson pressed his finger in the air as the stands rose in acclaim.
 

 

The first seamer in history to 700 test wickets, Anderson took 2-11 in 10 overs, including five maidens, and moved on to a career total of 703. He returned figures of 1-26 in West Indies' first innings 121.

Stokes joined an exclusive club of 200 test wickets and 6,000 test runs when he trapped Kirk McKenzie (0) leg before wicket with the batter unsuccessfully reviewing the decision. Stokes (2-25) also claimed the wicket of Mikyle Louis (14), who was caught behind.

Stokes is the third player to reach the 200 wickets-6,000 runs test landmark after Sir Garfield Sobers and South Africa's Jacques Kallis.

Sobers scored 8,032 runs and took 235 wickets in 93 tests for the West Indies, 10 fewer than Stokes has played for England, averaging 57.78 with the bat and 34.03 with the ball. Kallis' longevity, with 166 tests under his belt, helped him reach an immense 13,289 test runs at an average of 55.37. He added 292 wickets at 32.65.

Stokes too has managed to keep his batting average, though comparatively modest at 35.30, above his bowling average which stood at 31.75 after pinning McKenzie for a duck. His 6,320 runs include 13 hundreds and 31 fifties, with a memorable best of 258 against South Africa in January 2016.

England debutant Gus Atkinson had stolen the spotlight on Wednesday, claiming 7-45.

Atkinson followed that up Thursday with 2-27, leaving him one short of a 10-wicket match haul after bowling Kavem Hodge and having Holder caught by Pope for 20.

Holder gave way in the last over of the day, fending to short leg.