Stokes strikes 89 off just 92 balls as Root ticks on past 150
Lunch England 369 for 3 (Root 151*, Stokes 89*) vs West Indies
Having resumed on 244 for 3, with Root on 119, Stokes lit up the morning session as he smashed four sixes and 11 fours. The pair put on an unbroken stand worth 125 for the fourth wicket after Dan Lawrence had fallen for 91 on what turned out to be the last ball of the opening day, having put on 164 runs with Root.
Stokes twice advanced on left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul to launch him down the ground for six in consecutive overs, bringing up his fifty in the second instance. He later muscled Permaul over the fence at midwicket before clubbing the very next ball over cover for four.
Stokes took to Alzarri Joseph in the following over with three consecutive fours, bringing up the 100-partnership with a powerful drive through cover before launching him over long-off and through midwicket. But Stokes wasn’t done, passing 5000 Test runs with a belligerent mow down the ground to clear the fence by some distance.
With his batting partner and good friend Stokes going gangbusters, Root could afford to be more circumspect, though no less important to England’s cause, in passing 150 for the 12th time in his career, finding the boundary twice while adding 32 to his overnight score from 65 balls.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo