Bridgetown, Barbados: Ben Stokes completed an 11th Test century as England’s batters turned the screws on tiring West Indies bowlers in reaching 482 for six in their first innings at tea on the second day of the second Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Thursday.
After a period of rampaging aggression in the morning session, which ended with the all-rounder unbeaten on 89 off 92 balls, Stokes advanced to 120 off 128 balls with 11 fours and 6 sixes before becoming the sixth wicket to fall.
England also lost Joe Root at the start of the post-lunch period when he was trapped leg-before for 153 by the persevering Kemar Roach. The same bowler should have removed Root for just 34 on the first day only for wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva to spill the leg-side chance.
Jonny Bairstow, who compiled an excellent hundred in the first innings of the drawn first Test in Antigua, was the other wicket to fall in the afternoon session, pulling a short ball from Alzarri Joseph unerringly to Nkrumah Bonner on the midwicket boundary.
While the batting of Stokes and, briefly, Bairstow heightened speculation of an early declaration, Ben Foakes and Chris Woakes have since made more serene progress in a 58-run seventh-wicket stand.
Woakes will resume on 30, with Foakes on 27, after the interval.
Starting the day on 119, Root was content to play a supporting role to Stokes, advancing his score by 31 runs in the two hours of morning play as the left-hander pressed on the accelerator at the other end.
It was yet another session of utter dominance by the visitors on a placid pitch to the undisguised delight of thousands of English supporters enjoying the twin delights of Caribbean sunshine and a batting masterclass by two of their premier players.
Stokes, who faced the first ball of the morning from Jason Holder after Dan Lawrence’s dismissal for 91 at the end of day one, was particularly harsh on Alzarri Joseph as the interval approached, belting three fours and a six off a single over from the Antiguan pacer.
That straight hit for six took Stokes past 5,000 runs in Test cricket and on 87 at the time, with two overs still to be bowled in the session, it seemed possible that he would have been able to achieve the rare feat of scoring a hundred runs in a single Test session.
However, he was kept off strike for most of the remaining 12 deliveries to the relief of the suffering West Indies bowlers, adding just two more singles.