Stuart Broad says England might be willing to set an achievable target for the West Indies on the last day of the second test in exchange for the chance to get a second new ball, after being given an outside opportunity to force a victory that saves the series at Emirates Old Trafford.
Speaking at the end of the fourth day, in which his own 3-ball-by-1-in-14-ball explosion was critical to pitching to the West Indies by 287, Broad was still confident that the fifth-day wicket would offer England plenty of opportunities to take 10 wickets and square the series with the third test on Friday, but only if they give themselves enough time to turn the screw.
ALSO READ: Broad’s New Ball Burst Leaves England Chasing Last Day’s Victory
England certainly started with intention in their own second inning, opening the batting with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in an attempt to build quickly in their first 182 inning. And while Buttler fell in love with a duck, and Zak Crawley followed soon after. For 11, Broad was not discouraged with England’s game-ending total of 37 for 2, as it reinforced the impression that scoring runs is becoming increasingly difficult on this surface.
“I think it will be a good day tomorrow,” Broad told Sky Sports. “We need to set it up in the first 45 minutes to an hour tomorrow. The world of dreams [would be to] try and get two new balls because we have seen that the new ball has behaved slightly differently in this field, and it gives players a real shot. We’ve given ourselves a chance to win this game, which is an excellent position to be in. “
With 98 envelopes available on the last day and a 219 lead overnight, the danger to England is that an overly aggressive statement would offer the West Indies attainable career chase and a shot at a 2-0 series victory. . But with his hopes that the Wisden Trophy would depend on consecutive wins, Broad insisted that the benefits of the second new ball, available after 80 overs, would inform his decisions.
“We haven’t had that kind of chat about where we want to be cautious,” he said, “but I think the second new ball will be quite important, even if it’s for four, five, six overs.” Because if the West Indies were down seven with that second new ball, you’d feel like it would give you a real shot.
“We saw today, with a little short pitch bowling, you can stop the scoring pretty quickly with big square limits and windy conditions, so I think we would sacrifice a few runs for the chance to get that second ball for Of course.”
Another factor in England’s plans may be the propensity for the ball to soften after 40 overs, including, as Broad agreed, for the spin from Dom Bess, who claimed the first wicket of the day in an incisive morning spell but was unable to Replicate that threat later in the entries. And the fielders’ inability to use saliva on the ball can also be a factor in that lack of threat in half the innings.
“Using another day on that field today, with some sun and wind, could have dried up a bit more, which helped it deteriorate a little bit today, so I could play like that a little bit tomorrow,” Broad said.
“These balls are proving difficult to shine. We are giving it to bowlers to try to sweat a little bit, but obviously without spit, I think the swing numbers would be very low compared to past English summers.”
“We decided that we would just try to hit the ball on the field as hard as possible and try to wobble the seam a little bit, and we got a nonchalant bounce. The balls didn’t get up until about 12 years old, when the shellac starts to come off. , but the hardness of the ball definitely bought an additional rebound. [Shannon] Gabriel tonight, and a couple misbehaved with Crawley there, giving us bowlers hope tomorrow.
“We need to create ten opportunities as a bowling unit, and we must take advantage of our opportunities in the field.”
Although Broad believes the new ball will be the key to England’s hopes, he also feels that England has the creativity in its ranks to mix its tactics in the middle, as Ben Stokes demonstrated in particular in the first innings.
“By turning the wicket around, he cast a really hostile spell on a slow pitch that created opportunities and got him a wicket,” Broad said. “Hopefully we have enough runs on the board for us to be creative and if some limits go against us, it doesn’t matter.
“Bessy could play a key role tomorrow. Obviously bowlers have had a decent workload today, we have to endorse that and do everything tonight in terms of recovery. But I think our mindset is to create ten opportunities, and I think Launch, particularly with the new ball, has ten chances.
“I see [Kraigg] Brathwaite like a great wicket, “he added.” It is solid, it takes many balls, it beats a long time. If we can get it in the first ten overs, I think that will give us a real boost. “
Shamarh Brooks, the West Indies hitter, said he expected England to shut down the third inning once the goal was “260, 270”.
“It all depends on the time it takes to get those races,” Brooks said. “We just have to make it as difficult as possible for them and make them spend as much time out there hitting so they don’t have a chance to play too hard for us.”
Brooks said he was “not at all” surprised to see Buttler and Stokes promoting the order, adding that it was not a fact that the West Indies dropped anchor.
“I am not saying that chasing races is out of the question,” he said. “It all depends on how much they give us to chase. I still think wicket is decent for hitting,” I said before the new ball was a bit out of the ordinary tonight and it’s something to watch. Once you see that new ball, then you can really look at chasing the runs. “
.
