On Day 3 of the 1st #RaiseTheBat Test Series against West Indies at The Ageas Bowl, England captain Ben Stokes rallied his side with four wickets, but the visitors were still able to leave the field with an excellent 99-run lead.
However, Stokes has now become the second-fastest cricketer to reach the Test double of 4000 runs and 150 wickets. He achieved the milestone following his third dismissal in the innings, of Alzarri Joseph.
With the dismissal of Joseph, Stokes joined former England all-rounder Ian Botham and four other greats of the game in the club of 4000 Test runs and 150-plus Test wickets. The others players in the elite list are Windies great Gary Sobers, former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, ex-India captain Kapil Dev and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori. Only Sobers reached the milestone faster (63 Tests) than Stokes (64).
Stokes, who earlier appeared to be struggling with soreness as he worked through his decisive final spell, accounted for top-scorers Kraigg Brathwaite (65) and Shane Dowrich (61) as well as his fellow all-rounder and rival skipper Jason Holder.
While Stokes was unable to match Holder’s previous efforts with a five-wicket haul, the dismissal of Joseph did bring his Test tally to 150.
West Indies were wrapped up for 318 in the post-tea session, with the visitors taking a 110-run lead in the first innings. At the end of day’s play, England in their second innings were 15/0, still trailing by 99.
STUMPS
Some excellent bowling from the Windies seamers, but Burns and Sibley are equal to it.
England reach stumps on 15/0, still trailing by 99.#ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/9fjatbLbHC
— ICC (@ICC) July 10, 2020
