Saturday 2 February 2019

Antigua - Day Two

Day two and desperately need wickets but they aren't coming.  Anderson is tidy without looking his best but Broad is brilliant and is all over Campbell in particular.  We think he has him caught but DRS shows it came off the arm.  Then Buttler shells one at slip !!!  Not long after a top edge goes skyward but drops into no man's land.  It looks like a wicket could fall at any time, just like yesterday.  Are West Indies lucky or are they giving us a lesson in proper test match batting?  There are a couple of instances this morning of the fielding reflecting the body language of a beaten team.

Just when it feels like nothing will ever go our way Stokes finds Campbell's edge and this time Buttler clings on, 70/1 but that was a good opening partnership.  Curran comes on, despite his obvious talent I do not think he is  good enough for test cricket yet and definitely not the right bowler to be picked for this wicket.  Nothing he does this morning changes that opinion.  Ali bowls a few overs, he's tidy but not the slightest bit threatening.  The Brathwaite/Hope partnership passes fifty, West Indies batting is putting the match into context and also the bollocks talked by Team England along the lines of "If the top three don't get runs someone else will..."  At lunch it's 126/1, it's frustrating viewing but not as painful as I expect, I feel we are doomed so just enjoy the cricket.

Straight after lunch Moeen Ali is still bowling, Root generously allows the batsmen to get their eyes in again after the interval...  But just as I say that he gets Brathwaite caught at short leg for 49!  At least Broad is at the other end bowling well and at last he gets the wicket of Hope for 44!  Are we clawing our way back into this?  Chase come in, edges his second ball through the slips for 4 but Broad bowls him with the third!!  155/4 Will this become one of those famous Broad spells?

Just when the cricket is looking really interesting it's time to go out.  The purple Princess and I head north to pick up my daughter from university then drive to our favourite pub in the heart of Broadland where we celebrate Maddie's nineteenth birthday.  Good beer, fantastic food, love and laughter.  It's a lovely evening but I can't pick up any internet on my phone so cricket is forgotten.  We arrived home just before midnight and I check the score; West Indies have sold their wickets dearly and ground the scoreboard round to 272/6.  They will have a decent first innings lead for sure, it looks like the series is slipping away.


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