It was a memorable day for England and skipper Ben Stokes as the hosts inched closer to a win in the opening Test match of the summer at Lord's against the West Indies going into the third day. It has been the Test match of debutants for England as after Gus Atkinson's 7-wicket haul, it was Jamie Smith's turn and the wicketkeeper-batter smashed an attractive 70 to help his side take a lead of 250 runs in the first innings. England had the West Indies on the mat again with James Anderson rolling back years in his final bowling innings in international cricket while skipper Ben Stokes entered the record books.
Anderson reached the figure of 703 wickets with twin strikes while Stokes became only the third Test cricketer in history to achieve a double of 6,000 runs and 200 wickets. Stokes dismissed debutant Mickyle Louis and Kirk McKenzie as the West Indies found themselves reduced to 79/6 and still trail by 171 runs. It was a perfect day for England albeit Stokes' returns with the bat.
Stokes, who didn't have a great series against India with the bat, scored just four runs in the first innings for England, however, it was the manner in which he was dismissed that became one of the moments from Day 2 and eventually the Test match. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie was making the ball talk but was inconsistent with his lines and lengths. However, when he got it right, Ben Stokes' middle stump was shattered.
Motie pitched it full, outside the off-stump. However, it was into the rough and it went off from there. It gripped and turned square, and Stokes had no idea where exactly the ball went and hit his middle stump, uprooting it from the ground. Stokes was in disbelief as to what really happened. Almost in shock, Stokes stood his ground, took a couple of glances at the pitch, and started walking off.
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Motie and the whole West Indies squad was cock-a-hoop as they knew it was a big wicket. If that wasn't enough Motie cleaned up a set Joe Root as well a few overs later, this time with an arm ball. However, these were only a few bright spots amid gloom for the visitors, as they are on the verge of a huge defeat.
