Stokes Strikes Before Openers Pile On Runs In Dominant Day

After the mature, pragmatic climb to a match-winning first innings total at Lord's came the return of England's natural, more freewheeling rhythms.

- Ali Martin

Wickets tumbled, runs flowed and a raucous second day in Manchester ended with the hosts in the ascendancy.

It began with a successful dousing of India's lower order either side of lunch as the second new ball moved lavishly under cloud cover. Ben Stokes claimed his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket for eight years, Jofra Archer furthered optimism about his comeback with three, and the tourists were rolled for 358 in 114.1 overs. Rishabh Pant bravely emerged with his fractured foot but 17 more runs was all he could muster.

And then, sunshine having broken out, India's attack got it horribly wrong and England raced to 225 for two from 46 overs at stumps. Old Trafford's vertigo-inducing party stand had been rocking like Heaton Park last week, Shubman Gill struggled to find solutions and memories of that thwarted Ashes Test here two years ago came flooding back. Here is hoping rain does not have such a significant say in this one.

There was no century for Zak Crawley this time, however, the opener shut down for 84 from 113 balls when he sent an edge to slip off Ravindra Jadeja. Ben Duckett was then next to miss out on three figures when, on 94 from 100, he went to cut Anshul Kamboj for a 14th boundary only to feather behind. The long trudge off the field, Duckett's eyes fixed on the floor, was a reminder of why cricket is such a maddening pursuit.