Final session underway…

And we resume proceedings, the final session of the day. Two overs bowled and England have moved to 94 without loss. With rain on forecast over the next two days, how much longer will England bat? Nevertheless, either way, if the prediction in Manchester is anything to go by, very tough to get a result out of this Test

Tea on Day 3, England on top

England (86/0 and 369) at tea on Day 3, lead West Indies (197 all out) by 258 runs. A wicketless session for England, one in which 76 runs were scored. West Indies have bowled 28 overs of which spinners bowled 17. The only chance West Indies had was early in the session when substitute wicketkeeper Joshua Da Saliva missed a stumping chance.

West Indies lose a review

A fuller length delivery from Cornwall, Sibley yorks himself and ends up playing all around it. West Indies went up in a huge appeal, the umpire said no but they went for the review. Replays confirmed that it struck him outside the line of off stump. So West Indies lose a review.

Two boundaries

One from Burns, the other from Sibley. England are trying to move on and their typical Test openers are really trying to break free. England 74/0 and more importantly lead by 246 runs.

Sibley living dangerously

Sibley is trying break the shackles, but the limitation of shots is not helping him. Tries to hit CHase over mid-wicket by giving hum the charge but ends up slogging it. The ball lands just inches away from the diving backward square-leg fielder.

Good over from Cornwall

Some oohs and aahs there. Rahkeem Cornwall got a couple to turn, Sibley tried to do something out of the ordinary but did not succeed. Thankfully the ball was going over the stumps.

Misfield

FOUR! That was regulation at point but Blackwood makes a meal of it as it goes through. Chemar Holder at the boundary made a desperate attempt with a full length dive to stop the ball but it was not enough. Burns will be happy to a boundary off Chase.

Maiden from Chase

This Chase vs Burns battle is really interesting one. He already beat him once but de Silva failed to affect the stumping but Chase is relentless. Burns simply doesn’t seem to have much answers against him.

Drinks break

It has been a painful period of play for West Indies. Their captain Jason Holder hurt his left thumb just at the stroke of lunch and after lunch it was keeper Shane Dowrich who had walk off after being on the face. In between all this, Dom Sibley and Rory Burns have managed to hold fort for England as their lead is now at 211.

Missed stumping

It was a dream off-spinner’s delivery there from Chase. He flighted that one, enticed Burns to use his feet but the drift foxed him and the spin beat him. Wicket-keeper de Silva did well to gather the ball cleanly but failed to whip the bails off in time. The spin on the ball took it so wide that he could not reach out for the stumps on time.

Sibley flicks it for a four

FOUR, nice use of the wrists from Don Sibley! Pitched up by Holder and the right hander does well to flick it through square leg for four runs. He is very strong off his pads.

England lead by 200

FOUR! A nice little dab from Rory Burns and it runs away through the vacant gully region and into the boundary. England now lead by 201 runs.

Joshua de Silva allowed to keep wickets

Young Joshua de Silva has been permitted to keep wickets for West Indies in place of the injured Shane Dowrich. De Silva is obviously not a part of the West Indies 15-member squad but he is travelling with the team and umpires have granted him special permission to keep wickets as substitute fielder.

Four byes

Tough way to start for Shai Hope behind the stumps. It was one of those Gabriel bouncers that tests the keeper more than the batsman and it was way too high for Hope. It goes away to the fine leg boundary for four welcome runs for England.

The wipes are out

The umpires have decided to wipe the ball clean as they fear it might have caught some saliva after hitting Dowrich flush on the face. That would be rather unusual there but still can’t blame the umpires for taking precautionary measures. Meanwhile, Shai Hope will take the gloves in place of Dowrich.

Dowrich walks off

OUCH that must have hurt. Gabriel cranking up some pace. Another short one from the big West Indian, Burns let it go but Dowrich wasn’t quite up for it. It bursts through his gloves and straight on to his face.

Good start for West Indies

A maiden from Roach. It has been tight start from West Indies after lunch. Roach and Garbiel have been given noting away to the English openers. A wickets might just be around the corner if they continue to build this pressure.

Day 3, session 2

Right then, we are all set for the second session of Day 3. Good news for West Indies, their captain Jason Holder has walked out to the field with a heavily bandaged left thumb, that means it is more or less certain that he won’t field in the slips but he shouldn’t have any problems bowling with his right hand.

Lunch, Day 3

Two boundaries coming from Dom Sibley’s bat in quick succession. England 10/0 at lunch on Day 3, they lead West Indies by 182 runs.

Gabriel starts well

Just 1 run off the over. Gabriel has started well and so has Roach. With Holder out of the field for some time, the workload on Gabriel and Roach will be much more.

Holder walks off

Not the best of starts for West Indies in the 2nd innings. Their captain Jason Holder has to walk off the field with a nasty finger injury. It was a nice delivery from Roach. Burns played it with soft hands, that’s why it didn’t carry to Holder in the slips but hit him on the fingers. The physios came out and rightly took him away from the field.

England openers are out there

Rory Burns and Dom Sibley have made their way out into the centre. England have a healthy lead but with the dubious Manchester weather they would like to score quickly.

West Indies all out for 197

OUT! SIX wickets for Stuart Broad. He finishes with 6/32. Dowrich the last man to go and England have bowled out West Indies for 197 to take a comfortable 172-run lead in the first innings.

Dowrich having a go

Dowrich shows exactly why Jason Holder has so much confidence in him. With 9 wickets down he has decided to have some fun but with a lot of class. He hit Anderson for a boundary in the previous over and in this over he punches Broad off the backfoot for another boundary.

5 wkts for Broad

Edged and taken, Stuart Broad has five. A leg-cutter this time. Roach was expecting the big in swinger but Broad uses all his experience and bowls the leg-cutter that finds the outside edge of Roach’s bat and Joe Root takes a comfortable catch. Broad now has 5/27 in this innings.

Broad strikes again

OUT! Broad gets Cornwall. Typical Broad dismissal. He gets the ball to jag back in from length. No real feet movement from Cornwall and what’s worse? He swings across the line,misses it altogether and it hits him right in front. Another pointless review. West Indies 8 down.

Cornwall off the mark

FOUR! What a way to get off the mark. A straight drive showing the bat maker’s name and it races away to the long-off boundary. It was overpitched from Broad, Cornwall shows he is a good enough No.9 to put it away.

Broad breaks the stand

OUT! Right in front, Stuart Broad can’t do no wrong in this Test match. First over on Day 3, brings it back in from a length, Holder hangs back, fails to make contact and it hits right on his front pad. No hesitation from umpire Kettleborough. But Holder went for a review. Replays confirmed it was plumb. Holder goes for 46.

2000 Test runs for Holder

A confident punch through the covers and Holder will comeback for a couple. That will bring up 2000 Test runs for Jason Holder. He’s been one of the best all-rounders in world cricket for along time now.

Stuart Broad it the attack

It’s gone really dark at Oldd Trafford, the lights are in full affect and Joe Root has thrown the ball to his best cricketer in this match – Stuart Broad. Holder and Dowrich have looked rrather untroubled in the first hour of play. Will Broad be able to break the stand?

West Indies avoid follow-on

FOUR! Pulled away by Jason Hoder towards the long leg boundary for a four. First milestone achieved, West Indies have avoided the follow-on. It was a short delivery from Woakes, Holder uses his height to climb on top of it pull it with control.

OUT, oh wait

It’s a no ball. Woakes’ front foot was on the line. Thank god Holder waited for the confirmation. It was a length delivery from Woakes, Holder flicked up in the air, Ollie Pope at short mid-wicket flew towards his right to hold to on to a magnificent diving catch but the replays show Woakes has just overstepped. Big moment in the game.

Good stop by Burns

Good delivery from Woakes also finds the outside half of Dowrich’s bat but the West Indian keeper’s soft hands does not allow for it to carry to slip cordon and it goes through the gap. A good chase by Burns. He saves one run.

Fifty partnership

A nice nudge down to fine leg for a couple from Dowrich. That will bring up the fifty partnership between him and Holder. It has come at good time too, off just 67 balls. What they have ensured now is England in all probability will have to bat again. West Indies are 9 runs away from avoiding the follow-on.

Dowrich pulls

FOUR! A nothing delivery from Woakes. It was neither short, nor at a length, no direction, no real pace and no troubles for Dowrich. He pounces on it to pull it away for his first boundary of the day.

Holder looking good

These are good signs for West Indies. Holder drives Archer for the first boundary of the day and then when the England quick dragged his length back slightly Holder pinched him off his backfoot. The long boundary will allow them to run four. 150 up for West Indies, only 18 more runs to avoid the follow on.

Runs for Holder too

Nice little way to get off the mark on Day 3. A confident punch through the covers for a couple. So both West Indian batsmen have got off the mark on Day 3.

Dowrich is away

First runs of the morning. Dowrich looks in full control when the ball is pitched up around off stump. Archer does exactly that, Dowrich gets a good stride in to just stroke past the short-cover fielder. It doesn’t have enough legs to go to the ropes but West Indies will get 3 runs.

Day 3, session 1

The players are out in the middle. Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich look confident. It’s going to be big first hour. Either West Indies will be all out or Dowrich and Holder will start scripting something great.

Don’t write off West Indies yet

West Indies are peculiar side. Their lower middle order averages more than their top order in the last couple of years in Test cricket and that is mainly due to the likes of Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich and Jermaine Blackwood. Two of them are still there so there’s no reason why they can’t pull off something stunning.

West Indies’ key player

West Indies will look towards Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel who will be required to pick up quick wickets to ensure they do not have a huge total in front of them.

Should England enforce follow-on?

In a case, England can pick up next four wickets quickly, should they enforce the follow-on on England? I think it would be a good decision to do so, since it might rain today.

My colleague, Aritra disagrees. He thinks England should put more pressure by putting on an even stiffer target.

Dry day in Manchester…

So far, it has been a dry day in Manchester… meaning there by, that there has been no rain so far. Good news! We could expect a start on time and moreover, there will be 91.5 overs in play which means 15 minutes of more cricket action for all of us. YAYYYY! What more do we need than more cricket in this world, right!

Andrew Strauss on Ollie Pope

“If you look at his first-class record, he’s averaging 57 and he’s proved that he can do it in Test cricket with that great innings he played in South Africa,” Strauss told ‘Sky Sports’.

“Today was more of the same. He’s a guy who can score quickly without you really noticing it. He played some really eye-catching shots as well and he looks equally comfortable against seam and spin, so no obvious weaknesses there. He’s a real find for England, I think,” Strauss added.

Stats attack

Stuart Broad’s 33-ball fifty in Manchester is the third joint-fastest fifty in Test cricket by an Englishman.just behind Ian Botham (28 balls vs India, 1981/82; 32 balls vs New Zealand, 1986). His effort is level with Allan Lamb (33 balls vs New Zealand, 1991/92) and Andrew Flintoff (33 balls vs New Zealand, 2001/02).

Weather update

The weather forecast predicts heavy rains on Sunday. So far, there is not any word on rains, but stay tuned, we will keep you posted. Fingers crossed we will have full 90 overs and an enthralling day of Test cricket.

Roach reaches 200 wickets

First time in 26 years a West Indian bowler reached the 200-wickets mark in Test cricket when fast bowler Kemar Roach achieved the feat on Day 2 of the third Test match at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Hello and Welcome

Hello and welcome to our live blog on Day 3 of the 3rd Test between England and West Indies in Manchester.