ENG vs WI: 3rd Test – Talking points from opening day

The opening day of the decisive third Test between England and West Indies at the Old Trafford, Manchester belonged to the hosts. West Indian bowlers dominated the early proceedings but England fought back with the unbeaten partnership between Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler. By the time play was stopped due to bad light, England found themselves at 258/4 with Pope (91*) and Buttler (56*) still at the crease. Kemar Roach with 2/56 was the most successful West Indian bowler on the first day. Here are a few topics that were trending alongside the encounter.

The surprising omission

England had fielded a completely fresh frontline pace bowling attack in both the Tests thus far. So all eyes were on Joe Root as to which pace bowlers will he select in this Test. However, Root stumped everyone by announcing the omission of Zak Crawley. England had struggled with their fragile batting line-up and hence non-selection of a specialist batsman was a baffling move.  The only other change was the inclusion of Jofra Archer in place of Sam Curran. With Ben Stokes unlikely to bowl in this match, Chris Woakes will be England’s fourth seam bowler.

Holder’s obsession with bowling first

West Indian captain Jason holder won the toss in the 2nd Test of the series and chose to bowl first. The jaded West Indian bowling attack felt the brunt. Alzarri Joseph and Shannon Gabriel suffered injuries which allowed England to win the equaliser. So when Holder won the toss today, there were expectations of him choosing to do away with the idea of bowling first. However, the skipper stuck to his guns and once again choose to bowl first. Interestingly, teams choosing field first at Manchester have not won even a single Test out of nine such previous instances.

Ollie Pope impresses

England lost their opener, Dom Sibley, in the first over itself. Captain Joe Root was run out, Ben Stokes was castled and Rahkeem Cornwall took a sharp catch to send back Rory Burns. England at 122/4, were in a precarious position. 22-year Ollie Pope was unperturbed and played out the situation calmly. Impressive in his strokeplay, the youngster crossed his fifty and continued to defy West Indies. He ended the day on 91 not out.

That’s HUGE @josbuttler! ?

Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/pvF724ZqtE#ENGvWI #RedForRuth pic.twitter.com/f3oV8dhphn

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2020

Buttler finds his batting form

Prior to the Test match, a lot of heat was on Buttler to step up with his batting. The wicketkeeper was struggling for runs. There were calls sending him back to white-ball cricket. But in a pressure situation today, Buttler raised his game. Beginning patiently, he was 12 off 44 balls at one stage. The white-ball genius later lofted two sixes off Cornwall to get back into the groove. Buttler soon brought up his fifty and finished the day unbeaten. The duo of Pope and Buttler added 136 runs for the fifth wicket.