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<\/div>Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler made unbeaten half-centuries to give England the edge on day one of the decisive third Test against West Indies at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
The Windies reduced England to 122-4 after Jason Holder won the toss, Kemar Roach the standout bowler with 2-56 in Manchester on Friday.<\/p>\n
Pope (91 not out) and the under-pressure Buttler (56no) raised their bats for the first time in the series, an unbroken stand of 136 taking Joe Root’s side on 258-4 when stumps were drawn 15 minutes early due to bad light.<\/p>\n
Rory Burns earlier made 57 at the top of the order before he was superbly caught by all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall, playing his first match of the series.<\/p>\n
England moved Ben Stokes up to number four and picked a five-strong bowling attack, including Jofra Archer and James Anderson, so the Windies will be disappointed not to have made further inroads but weather could prevent either side from forcing a win.<\/p>\n
Roach snared Dom Sibley, a centurion in England’s victory at the same venue last week, leg before without scoring from the final ball of the first over but the Windies suffered a blow when an injured Shannon Gabriel left the field.<\/p>\n
England were 66-2 at lunch after captain Joe Root (19) was brilliantly run out by a direct hit from the alert Roston Chase after paceman Gabriel was able to return.<\/p>\n
Roach produced a peach of a delivery to clean up Stokes, Man of the Match in the second Test following two magnificent knocks, for 20 prior to Burns bringing up a patient 126-ball half-century.<\/p>\n
Cornwall then took centre stage to see the back of Burns with a brilliant one-handed reaction grab for at first slip off the bowling of Chase, leaving England four down before tea.<\/p>\n
The classy Pope looked anything but a man out of touch with the Windies bowlers looking weary, finding the rope with a flurry of glorious drives and bringing up his 50 off 77 balls.<\/p>\n
Buttler was watchful before dispatching spinner Cornwall for two sixes in an over and also reached his half-century, with West Indies unable to strike with the new ball.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Roach closes in on double-century<\/strong><\/p>\n Roach was the pick of the Windies bowlers and conjured up a special delivery to see the back of the in-form Stokes, who made a hundred and a rapid half-century to set up a series-levelling win last week.<\/p>\n The Barbados-born fast bowler made a great start by trapping Sibley in front and then got one to nip back in and bowl Stokes, the newly-crowned top-ranked Test all-rounder, through the gate for his 199th scalp in the longest format.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cornwall makes his presence felt<\/strong><\/p>\n Cornwall had to be patient to get his chance to play a part in the series and although he was wicket-less, the sizeable all-rounder certainly made an impact on the first day of his third Test.<\/p>\n The 6ft 6in tall, 22 stone Antiguan, selected instead of Alzarri Joseph, snaffled a sharp chance to get rid of Burns and generated turn without reward.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pope and Buttler to the rescue<\/strong><\/p>\n England were in danger of being dismissed cheaply when Buttler joined Pope at the crease, only for the fifth-wicket pairing to turn the tide.<\/p>\n Pope has been out of sorts in the series, but returned to form in style with elegant strokes on both sides of the wicket and Buttler offered great support with a timely knock with his place under threat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Tags:<\/b> Omnisport <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: <\/strong>
England turned the tide in a wicket-less final session on day one at Old Trafford thanks to Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler.
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England batsmen Ollie Pope (left) and Jos Buttler Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler made unbeaten half-centuries to give England the edge on day one of the decisive third Test against West Indies at Old Trafford. The Windies reduced England to 122-4 after Jason Holder won the toss, Kemar Roach the standout bowler with 2-56 in … Continue reading Pope and Buttler give England the edge in decisive Test<\/span><\/a> Continue Reading