England captain Ben Stokes is close to winning the second Test match against West Indies at Trent Bridge. The hosts have given the visitors a target of 385 after scoring more than 400 in both innings of the Test match.
They scored 416 in the first innings and 425 in the second. Joe Root’s classic 32 and Harry Brook’s 109 underpinned England’s total in the second innings. Meanwhile, West Indies will face a record if they are to surpass England’s 299 against New Zealand in 2022.
England posted 416 batting first with Ollie Pope scoring 212, Ben Duckett 71 and captain Stokes 69. In the second innings, Stokes scored just 8. Ben Duckett scored 76 and Ollie Pore 51 apart from the two century makers.
West Indies scored 457 in their first innings and took a 41-run lead. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite scored 48 to give them a flying start. Kavem Hodge’s 120 and Joshua Da Silva’s unbeaten 82 took them to that score.
Also Read: Harry Brook is only behind Don Bradman’s unbreakable average record of 99.94 as he writes history
Amidst all the seriousness of the Test match, Ben Stokes found his body double in the Trent Bridge crowd. His double’s face was shown on the giant screen and Stokes gave a priceless reaction on seeing his double. It was one of the moments of the Test match.
Watch: Ben Stokes is left baffled by his Trent Bridge lookalike
There’s only one thing better than a Ben Stokes… Two Ben Stokes. 👨🦰👨🦰 image.twitter.com/SGV941zDew
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 21, 2024
England batting coach Paul Collingwood was standing next to Stokes when his body double was shown on the big screen. Everyone at Trent Bridge saw him too. He had the same hairstyle and sported the same beard as Stokes now. Stokes had a smile on his face as the camera panned towards him.
This was the first time England had scored more than 400 in both innings of a Test match. They were the ones to be beaten as a bowling party on five occasions. Joe Root scored his 32nd Test ton and his sixth against the West Indies. Root is now just one away from equalling Alastair Cook, who scored 33 Test ton for England. The next best after Cook and Root is former England captain Kevin Pietersen with 23 Test ton, 10 fewer than what Cook and Root scored.
England lost their last three wickets for just 8 runs and went from 419/7 to 425 all out. Shoaib Bashir was the last England wicket to fall, as he was dismissed by Jayden Seals.
England are bottom of the WTC points table with a PCT of 25.00. A win in the second Test against West Indies should put them above South Africa in the points table. However, West Indies showed much more determination in the second Test than they did in the first. They scored 457 in the first innings to overtake England’s first innings total of 416.
Also Read: Joe Root’s masterful fight against WI puts him in elite company with Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson
