Root and Smith help England reduce deficit

Joe Root’s 87 and a vital 57 not out from Jamie Smith helped England reduce their 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 to move England closer to West Indies’ total, having previously been reduced to 54/5. England went into Tea on 274/7, needing eight more runs to level the score with West Indies.

Alzarri Joseph was hit for a boundary apiece by Stokes and Root in the first over of the second session. Stokes’ four helped him reach his 33rd Test fifty, while Root’s boundary helped him become the seventh player to pass 12,000 Test runs. The partnership reached 115 before a short ball from Alzarri caught Stokes at square leg, giving the bowler his 100th Test wicket. Smith then gloved a short ball in an attempt to pull Alzarri before lofting another short ball over the deep midwicket fence. Root, meanwhile, continued untroubled, hitting one late on from Gudakesh Motie for a four as he entered his 80s.

Smith settled in well and helped Root build a good partnership, scoring regular boundaries and rotating the strike well as the score quickly passed 50. He targeted Motie, cutting a short ball and also brushing the spinner well. The ball was changed a couple of times and Root was also given a change of bat. He looked set for a three-figure score before falling prey to a straight ball from Motie, playing for the non-existent spin to be caught on the front. Smith continued to bring up another fifty and, with support from Chris Woakes, raised a stand of 40-plus to reduce the deficit.

Earlier, England were rattled by West Indies early in the first session as they trailed by five runs with just over 50 on the board. West Indies missed an opportunity to send Root back early in the day as they disregarded a leg-before shout that was dismissed. But they tasted early success when Shamar Joseph got Ollie Pope to inside one on the stumps and Harry Brook departed in the next over, poking a delivery outside the off to edge to the ‘keeper, making Seales the fifth youngest West Indian to reach the 50-wicket milestone.

The quick wickets did not deter Root from playing his stroke. After passing Brian Lara’s total of 11,953 runs to take seventh place among the leading run-scorers in Tests, Root hit a couple of boundaries off Alzarri. Stokes had an edgy start but he held on to build a partnership with Root, with both batters scoring at a good pace. Root also passed Alastair Cook’s total of 869 runs to become the leading run-getter at Edgbaston. West Indies lost a review early in the second hour after opting for the DRS despite Shamar Stokes hitting on the thigh pad. They bowled a couple of tight overs before Stokes decided to attack, hitting boundaries off Jason Holder and sweeping spinner Motie for a six on his way to a century stand that was raised before the interval.

Short scores: West Indies 282 lead England 274/7 (Joe Root 87, Jamie Smith 57*, Ben Stokes 54; Jayden Seales 3-35, Alzarri Joseph 2-81) by 8 runs.