'I was keen to keep him out a little longer then' - Ollie Pope jokes about keeping Ben Stokes off field as England dominate West Indies

The second Test of the ongoing series between England and the West Indies came to an end. After winning the first Test in dominant fashion, England followed it up with yet another exceptional showing, registering their second straight win against the West Indies by 241 runs. 

After the game, England’s vice-captain, Ollie Pope, came forward to joke about how keeping Ben Stokes out of the field for a while helped England take some wickets. The West Indies had to chase a target of 385 runs in the second innings to win the game. However, England’s bowling attack made sure that the visitors were bundled out for 143. 

Pope was the top-scorer for England in the first innings with his brilliant century, scoring 121 (167), and later scored 51 in the second innings, and he opined that he was happy to keep Stokes off the field, as long as it meant that England were taking wickets. 

“Stokes snuck off and we got a couple of wickets. I was keen to keep him out a little longer then. (On changing conditions) We saw it last night, it nipped a bit and Brook and Root did brilliantly in the evening. And then they came out attacking today morning again. That's how it is in Test matches, we need to make the most of the situation. Feel really good about where my game is at the moment,” said Pope in the post-match presentation.

Shoaib Bashir dominates to hand England the win

As the Windies came out to bat, hoping to chase down the total, England’s bowling attack put in a magnificent showing. Kraigg Brathwaite was dismissed for 47 runs, with Mikyle Louis getting out on 17 runs. Jason Holder scored 37 runs with Joshua Da Silva adding 14 runs on the board. However, the rest of the batting attack could not amount to much.  

England’s Shoaib Bashir was the highest wicket-taker in the second innings with five wickets to his name. Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes took two wickets each, alongside Mark Wood who struck once as England won the game by 241 runs.