Twitter Reactions: Old Trafford Test set for a thrilling finish after West Indies collapse to hand England 182-run lead

Day 4 began with West Indies at 32-1. As the third day was washed out due to rain, it was evident that a result would be hard to get. England needed to pull off something tremendous in order to bundle the visitors out early. While day 4 had various ups and downs, it began just how the Caribbeans would’ve liked. Alzarri Joseph made a useful 32 before being dismissed by Dom Bess. 

This is where the real game began. Kraigg Brathwaite and Hope were involved in a 53-run partnership which helped West Indies successful reach 123 runs. At 123-3, Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks took matters in their hands. They were involved in a delightful partnership of 76 runs. The former was dismissed for 75 while the latter went on to score 68 runs. Chase chipped in with a 50 and West Indies looked all set to get close to England’s score of 469.

West Indies falter but end up avoiding follow-on

At 242-4, they seemed to be in control of their innings. The English bowlers seemed off colour and it looked like the match will end in a draw. Some even believed that if West Indies adopted an aggressive approach they could go on to win the match. But just as it had been all through the Test match, things didn’t go as the fans had anticipated. 

The visitors ended up losing their next 6 wickets for just 45 runs thanks to the second new ball. This refreshed the memories of the first Test match where they had lost their last 5 wickets for only 51 runs. Things reached a point where it seemed like England may be able to enforce follow on as well. While they somehow managed to go past the 70-run mark, they would surely look to work on their lower order as it has failed twice in two matches.

West Indies were bowled out for 287 with Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes picking up three wickets each while Sam Curran was also amongst the couple of wickets.

England come out aggressive in the second innings

Spectators were thrilled as they saw Ben Stokes And Jos Buttler walk out to open the innings for England. While this was a clear indication of the aggressive approach adopted by the English, it did not really work out as they would’ve liked it to. 

Buttler was dismissed for a duck in the very first over and Zak Crawley followed soon after. Kemar Roach was back in the wickets column after he dismissed both the England batsman. Joe Root who entered at 4 will look to get going as soon as possible on day 5. 

With England at 37-2, they would be looking to score some quick runs to give their bowlers enough time to dismiss the West Indies line up. With no team clearly ahead at this point it would be interesting to see if the hosts can pull off a victory or do the West Indies get away with a draw. 

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

~Written by Tanvir Sahni