Joshua Da Silva, Shamar Joseph entertain but England back on top of second Test

AFTER a terrific response from the West Indies batsmen on day two, hosts England seized back control on day three of the second Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on July 20 as they ended the day on 248 for three in their second turn at the crease — opening up a 207-run lead.

In reply to England's healthy first innings score of 416, the West Indies batsmen stitched together their best effort of the series thus far — taking their overnight score from 351 for five to 457 all out to open up a 41-run lead at the end of the first innings.

Pacer Chris Woakes (four for 84) took three of the four wickets to fall early in the morning session as the Windies slipped to 389 for nine and looked to be in danger of falling behind England's first innings total.

In tandem with last-man Shamar Joseph, though, wicket-keeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva (82 not out off 122 balls) led a strong fightback as the West Indies raced past the 416-mark. Da Silva struck ten fours and three sixes as he notched his third-best Test score, with the exuberant Joseph clouting five fours and two sixes in an entertaining cameo of 33 off 27 balls as they shared in a 71-run stand before the latter was undone by the pace of Mark Wood (one for 71).

Similar to the first innings, the West Indies struck early as opener Zak Crawley (three) was sent back to the pavilion in only the second over after Jayden Seales effected a run out in his follow through to leave the English on eight for one.

In their typically aggressive "Bazball" style, England quickly put the Windies bowlers on the back foot as Ben Duckett (76 off 92 balls) and first innings centurion Ollie Pope (51 off 67 balls) put together a 119-run partnership for the second wicket — complementing their 105-run stand from the first innings.

After erasing the first-innings deficit, the dangerous pair of Duckett and Pope were removed in quick succession when Windies vice-captain Alzarri Joseph (two for 58) got their prized scalps to reduce the hosts to 140 for three.

With the English lead just shy of 100 runs at that stage, the West Indies looked to be regaining momentum in the contest.

However, Joe Root (37 not out off 67 balls) and Harry Brook (71 not out off 78 balls) took the English to stumps without any further loss and are currently in the midst of an ominous-looking 108-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Heading into the fourth day's play, the hosts will aim to maintain their rapid scoring rate and drive home their advantage in this Test and the three-match series.

Summarised Scores:

ENGLAND — 416 (Ollie Pope 121, Ben Duckett 71, Ben Stokes 69; Alzarri Joseph 3/98, Kavem Hodge 2/44) and 248/3 (B Duckett 76, Harry Brook 71 not out, O Pope 51; A Joseph 2/58) vs WEST INDIES — 457 (K Hodge 120, Joshua Da Silva 82 not out, Alick Athanaze 82; Chris Woakes 4/84, Gus Atkinson 2/107).