Live Match 2nd Test: England v West Indies at Manchester, Jul 16-20, 2020 Live Score

6.41pm: That will be that for us this evening. Stick around for all the analysis and reaction from George Dobell, Nagraj Gollapudi and the players, and remember to join us again on Friday for the third Test. Both teams will have all sorts of selection dilemmas going into that, with that decider looking mouthwatering. Thanks for joining us throughout the past five days, and from Alan, Chandan, Venkat and me, it’s goodbye for now.

Ben Stokes is player of the match. “[Injuries?] I’m fine. The body started to get quite stiff. I said to Broady that I was feeling quite stiff, what do you reckon, and he said stop. [Long spells?] I’ll give everything to the team, whatever’s asked of me. We’ve found a method within our attack to be aggressive when things aren’t happening. It dries it up, the batsmen don’t have anywhere to go. I’ll always do whatever’s asked of me. In the first innings it just came about, with us having success with that in the past we can resort to it quite quick. It gets batsmen out of their comfort zone when you have six balls banged into the wicket. I’d say we’re quite successful with it. [Which innings more fun?] Completely different roles. [3rd inns] was pretty simple, we had to score as many as we could, but scoring 90 off 11 overs gave us that edge in the game, dangled the carrot a little bit. A lot of credit to the bowlers’ spells with the new ball yesterday. There were a few conversations going on out there [w/ batting order], it was a real positive move. It was no good walking away with a draw from this Test match. I texted Neil Fairbrother [his agent] the other day saying when he first saw me play he’d never have thought I’d last 300 balls [in an innings].”

Here’s Joe Root: “It was a brilliant week’s cricket from the outset, making a 400+ score for the third time in four games. We’ve starting to do that more consistently which is really pleasing. That’s what we want from [Sibley], set that platform. He seems to get better and better the more he’s playing, then when you’ve got guys like Ben who can go through a range of gears, it shows how valuable he is. He doesn’t surprise me – you watch how he goes about his business, he leads the way in many respects. We’re seeing those results out on the field and it’s great for the younger guys coming through to see that. [Broad made his point?] You always expect that from Stuart, when he says something he tries to back it up. He’s led the attack brilliantly this week, and we feel like he’s got a lot of cricket ahead of him. [Selection decisions for next Test?] You look how many guys have been fit and ready, it’s the first time in a long time we’ve had some many options available to us. I can’t see that getting any easier but that’s a fantastic place to be in as a team.”

“It’s disappointing,” says Jason Holder. “England played a really good game but that period with the second new ball let us down. You need to give credit where it’s due, England’s bowlers challenged our batters consistently. But too many of our batters got caught on the crease, on a surface like this you need to commit forward or back. We’ve got to understand scenarios better. We fought through decent periods in the game but maybe need a little bit more grit, determination to get through challenging spells. It’s just about getting through those tough spells. [Toss decision – regrets?] None whatsoever. You’ve got to give Stokes and Sibley some credit. We were unlucky, we put down one or two chances too. These are things we can pay attention to and put right going into the last Test. [Can seamers play third Test?] They’re experienced enough. After a long lay-off you feel it a little bit more. You have to see how the guys pull up over the next couple of days but we’ll see how everybody pulls up. We’re here to fight. I’m sure the guys are feeling this loss. Going into this last game we’re going to give it our all.”

Here’s another from S Rajesh: Eng in 1st Test of a series since 2018: 2W, 7L; 2nd Test of a series since 2018: 5W, 1L. And here’s the link to prove it.

“Root’s finest hour as a captain,” reckons Lindsay O’Regan. “The team performed as he wanted them to, he timed the declaration perfectly, and he managed his bowlers beautifully. He’s growing with every game.” I think he’ll rank Newlands above this, but yep, everything paid off in the end.

My colleague Gaurav Sundararaman points out that this will (presumably) be Stokes’ fourth player-of-the-match award in the last 12 months in Tests: Lord’s and Leeds v Australia, Newlands v South Africa, and now Manchester v West Indies. Some player!

“I am glad to read that Pope has pulled off a miracle!” smirks our man in Andalusia, Sevillano.

Dezz: “As much as I moaned about it, I have to say the Manchester rain on Saturday set this up brilliantly!”

Bernard: “Well done, England. Great effort there to win the test after having a whole day rained off. The approach to the game looked spot-on since midway through the first day. Perhaps a quick celebratory drive around the country with Jofra and his dog this evening?”

6.17pm: The series is alive! England square it at 1-1, which looked so unlikely yesterday afternoon with West Indies cruising at 242 for 4. Stuart Broad‘s new-ball spell was crucial yesterday, before Stokes set things up with the bat this morning. Despite the best efforts of Shamarh Brooks and Jermaine Blackwood in particular, England always looked likely to pull this off after reducing West Indies for 37 for 4, with the wickets shared around in the fourth innings. Stick around for all the post-match reaction.

Illingworth signals the final hour

“Planning on naming my first born Shannon if he can pull this off” I’ll hold you to that, Aj.

Azeem: “What’s the weather looking like?” Dry! The sun is setting, but it looks about as bright as it has done all day

Dean: “Nonetheless, Stokes is now equal with Gabriel for leading wicket taker in the series so far, and has scored twice as many runs as the next highest run scorer in the series.”

6.12pm: And that’ll be drinks in the final session of the match. West Indies have 15 overs to survive, England need one wicket. Don’t go anywhere!

Root continues

Round the wicket, and another man comes in round the bat

Seemed like some sort of muscle problem for Stokes. Will update you with more as and when we get it.

Robert: “Who was it who said don’t break Stokes!!!”

Wry smile from Gabriel

A couple of balls for Joe Root, who removes his sweater. Three men round the bat

Stokes wanders over towards Root for a conflab. Looks like something isn’t quite right with him? Yep, seems as though he won’t complete this over. He stays on the field, but there’s some kind of injury.

Gesinski: “This may be academic, but if Gabriel helps pull off a draw, I think I’m right in saying he’s forgiven for this” Undoubtedly

Now then, what’s Stokes’ plan to Big Shannon? Bumper, bumper, yorker? Short leg, leg gully, slip, gully all in

Roach survives. 18 to go!

Roach on strike. Slip, short leg, silly point in place.

In strides Shannon Gabriel with 19 overs to block out. I know who my money is on…

England are a wicket away. Big breakthrough!