England’s habit of coming up with a poor performance after a dominating one has once again come to haunt them, as they are firmly on the back foot after day two’s play of the ongoing second Test against West Indies at Headingley.
Post registering a thumping innings and 209 runs victory in the historic day-night victory at Edgbaston, Joe Root & Co. have been found chasing the game for the first two days in Leeds.
After being bowled out for 258, the hosts were looking on top for a brief period when James Anderson took two quick wickets in the first hour of second day’s play to reduce the visitors to 35 for three. However, they then failed to capitalise on it, as West Indies finished the day on 329 for five, taking a 71-run lead.
The chief architects of West Indies’ brilliant fight back were Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope, as they added 246-runs for the fourth wicket to put their team in the driver’s seat. The partnership was broken when Broad dismissed Brathwaite for 134, but Hope held firm from one end and remained unbeaten on 147.
Speaking after the day’s play, Anderson admitted the England bowlers did not bowl well despite the pitch offering good help, as they ended up delivering a ‘lot of bad balls’.
“We didn’t bowl very well. Even on the pitch with life in it, you have to put the ball in the right area,” said Anderson. “We talk about bowling in partnerships, but we did not do that much today. There was always a release at the other end. We bowled a lot of bad balls.”
Before the ongoing match, England had won three consecutive Tests for the first time since 2014 when they beat India 3-1 at home. The latest winning streak had given hopes of a new-found consistency for England under new captain Joe Root but the performance in the first two days of the match has brought back the memories of England’s struggle with consistency.
Speaking about that, Anderson said:
“I thought we had got on the right side of being consistent with two wins against South Africa and at Edgbaston. We are still evolving as a side and ironing out those inconsistencies are a big thing for this team going forward. We have a big tour of Australia coming up, and we can’t go there and win the series if we are inconsistent.”
The England pace spearhead, meanwhile, took nothing away from Brathwaite and Hope, as he praised the duo for the remarkable knocks.
“They batted brilliantly,” Anderson said. “They played the conditions very well, going through the tough periods and as the day went on, they cashed in. I think our batsmen could have learned from the way they applied themselves. We have just got to look at ourselves. Did we create enough pressure? Did we put enough balls in the right areas.”