Tourists, faced with a difficult hour of hitting the stumps on the second day, lost John Campbell to the recall. Sam Curran and they were 32-1 at the close.
They might have lost night watchman Alzarri Joseph at the penultimate dance of the day, but the hosts, seeking to level the series, chose not to revisit a Curran lbw scream.
Earlier, Dom Sibley he made a minute 120 and put 260 with Stokes after England had been in trouble 81-3 on Thursday after the loss of captain Joe Root.
A great day 👊 Scorecard / Clips: https://t.co/OngNindE11#ENGvWI https://t.co/CH6a9Nhorm
– Cricket from England (@englandcricket) 1595009257000
England was forced into a late change in its pace attack after fast bowler Jofra Archer was dramatically skipped on Thursday for breaking the bio-secure bubble by making an unauthorized trip to his Brighton home after the victory. out of four wicket in the West Indies in last week’s First Test. in Southampton
But left pacemaker Curran, who might not have played if Archer had been retained, made the breakthrough when an inswinger had Campbell lbw under review to leave the West Indies 16-1.
England entered this match already planning to modernize its pace attack, with Stuart broad – angry at having rested for the first game of the series – back in action.
James Anderson rested in turn, despite the fact that this match would take place on the grounds of Lancashire, the all-time leader in England, with Chris Woakes retired in place of Mark Wood after he also received a breather.
YES! @CurranSM makes the breakthrough! 🙌 Scorecard and videos: https://t.co/zUaWdFMRLG#ENGvWI https://t.co/UldCUMr0fg
– Cricket from England (@englandcricket) 1595008518000
But the day was about Sibley and Stokes, whose association was the second highest for England’s fourth wicket against the West Indies, behind the famous 411 booth shared by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey at Edgbaston in 1957.
Sibley’s Hundred was one of the slowest in tests conducted by an England hitter, the leadoff hitter for 471 minutes, nearly eight hours, to complete a century of 312 balls with just four legs.
But the 24-year-old Warwickshire right-hander, 24, in his eight Tests, after his 133 failed to face South Africa in Cape Town in January, was a valuable entry.
And it made West Indies captain Jason Holder, normally trustworthy, pay to leave him on the slip in ’68.
Running score was tough against a swinging ball and on a slow open field, even Stokes, who used to speak fluently, took nearly six hours and 285 balls to complete his tenth century test.
But Stokes’ third-fifty came from just 46 balls and, after giving Sibley a “lead” of 31.2 surpasses, he surpassed his teammate’s total while leading from the forward bat, even though he had returned the captained Root, who missed last week’s game to attend the birth of her second child.
England resumed at 207-3, with Sibley 86 not out and Stokes, undefeated at 59.
Stokes, 99 not out at lunch, went to three figures with a cheeky reverse sweep four against the spinner Roston Chase.
The left-handed hitter then picked up the pace against the new ball, notably with a remarkable six check-drive over Joseph’s midfield.
After hitting for more than nine hours, Sibley got on top of Chase.
Kemar Roach checked England’s progress when he first hit this series with two wickets on two balls.
In his 71st season finale, the stubborn pacemaker had Stokes, attempting an ambitious reverse sweep, trapped behind to finish a 356-ball inning with 17 four and two sixes before Woakes was caught in the ravine.
Jos Buttler (40) and Dom Bess (31 not out) made useful runs, with Chase taking 5-172 in 44 overs.
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