Opener Dom Sibley batted the whole of the first day to give England the perfect start to the second Test against the West Indies in Manchester on Thursday.
Opposition skipper Jason Holder won the toss and decided to bowl first on an overcast day with some early rain around to favour the bowlers.
The visitors had England in a spot of bother shortly after lunch following two wickets in consecutive balls by Roston Chase as Rory Burns and Zak Crawley departed without troubling the bowlers.
I support BLM – Van der Dussen
Captain Joe Root, who returned to the team having missed the opening encounter in Southampton steadied the ship before he fell victim to Alzarri Joseph with England on 112-3 at tea.
But, that sparked a solid partnership between Sibley and Ben Stokes as they took England to 207 at stumps without losing a further wicket with both batsmen reaching their half-centuries.
Sibley in particular was extremely patient in his approach and saw out the opening day with his tally on 86 off 253 deliveries, while Stokes will resume his innings on Friday on 59.
England paceman Jofra Archer was removed from the squad a few hours before play got under way on Thursday after he breached the team’s bio-secure protocols.
Archer breaches bio-secure protocols
According to reports, Archer visited his girlfriend in Hove on Monday as the players were allowed to travel by car to Manchester from Southampton.
As a result, Archer will have to spend the next five days in isolation, while he has to undergo two Covid-19 tests. He will only be allowed to rejoin the team should both those results return negative.
