Manchester, July 24
West Indies struck two early blows, including the run out of England captain Joe Root, in the opening session of the third and final Test at Old Trafford to leave the hosts on 66 for two wickets at lunch on Friday.Root was caught short as England attempted a quick single and dismissed for 17 runs as some smart fielding reaped a major scalp for the tourists. Opener Rory Burns (33) and Ben Stokes (7) will resume after lunch after England were put into bat under cloudy conditions in Manchester, where the sun was threatening to come out for the afternoon session but the weather forecast over the five days of the Test remained gloomy.The West Indies had an immediate windfall from their decision to bowl when Dom Sibley was trapped leg before wicket by Kemar Roach with the sixth ball of the day, departing without scoring.Yet Root and Burns put on 46 runs for the second wicket before Burns set off for a quick run after steering spinner Rahkeem Cornwall towards third man.Roston Chase fielded quickly and hit the stumps with a direct throw, catching the scrambling Root short of the crease, to the delight of the fielding team.Earlier, Windies quick Shannon Gabriel thought he had trapped Root leg before in only the fourth over of the day but a review showed the impact on the pads was outside off stump and the umpire’s decision to turn down the appeal was upheld.Gabriel then went off with a suspected hamstring injury halfway through his fourth over, but returned to the attack after an hour, which included time off the pitch for treatment and strapping.His fitness will be a concern to the West Indies, who are already a seamer light after dropping Alzarri Joseph for the burly Cornwall. Gabriel also suffered with stiffness and niggles in the second Test, which England won by 113 runs to level the three-match series after West Indies had won the first Test at Southampton by four wickets.
