England produced a brilliant all-round performance on Day 2 to take complete control of the first Test match against West Indies at Lord's on Thursday. The veteran Joe Root and debutant Jamie Smith helped England post a 371 total in their first innings and then West Indies witnessed another embarrassing collapse in their second innings.
James Anderson, Ben Stokes and first innings' hero Gus Atkinson took two wickets each as the visiting side stumbled to 79/6 at the end of Day 2's play, trailing 171 runs. Playing his last international game, Anderson picked two wickets for 11 and Atkinson dismissed Jason Holder on the last ball of the day to put the Three Lions on the verge of a big win.
Resuming Day 2's play from 189/3, England batters Joe Root and Harry Brook added a further 55 runs for the fourth wicket. Brook scored a quick fifty to return to form and Root added 68 runs to put England on track for a big total.
West Indies managed to make a comeback with spinner Gudakesh Motie bowling out both Ben Stokes and Joe Root with brilliant deliveries. England regained control with debutant wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and the veteran pace all-rounder Chris Woakes adding 52 runs for the seventh wicket with the former top-scoring with 70 runs off 119 balls.
Jayden Seales dismissed both Woakes and Smith as the Three Lions stumbled to 371 in 90 overs. Seales picked four wickets while Motie and Holder claimed two each for the visiting side.
After trailing 250 runs in the first innings, West Indies struggled to fight back against English pace attack. The retiring Anderson bowled out skipper Kraigg Brathwaite in the ninth over and then the hosts' bowlers dominated the rest of Day 2's play with brilliant spells.
Anderon also dismissed Alick Athanaze who top-scored with 22 runs while Stokes and Atkinson picked two wickets each to stun West Indies to 79/6 in 34.5 overs on Day 2. The wicketkeeper batter Joshua Da Silva remains at the crease with no designated batting option left for a fight on Day 3.
