England are hopeful their ace all-rounder and skipper Ben Stokes will shake off his recent cramp to lead the bowling charge on the final day of the Manchester Test. Following a dominating century on the fourth morning after contributing his five-for in the first innings Stokes could not bowl in the 62-over second innings of England. Meanwhile, Indian batters KL Rahul and Shubman Gill combined made a 174-run partnership, taking the game into a fifth day. Even so, England are still favourites in a Test they’ve dominated from the beginning.
Stokes Grinds Through Injury To Hit Match-Winning Century
Stokes suffered cramps for the first time while batting on the third day and had to retire injured at 66 runs. However, he returned later to hit a magnificent 141 runs, this also marks his first Test century in two years. This achievement added him to a select list of players, joining legends Gary Sobers and Jacques Kallis, as he surpassed 7,000 runs and 200 wickets in Tests.
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Injury Worries Pile Up
When England started their second innings bowling, Stokes was openly clutching his hamstring, causing concerns about his fitness. Even though former opener Marcus Trescothick minimized worries of a long-term injury, the strain shows the cost of Stokes’s hectic workload. Having already managed his bowling in the opening games, Stokes had to bowl lengthy spells of nine and ten overs respectively on the last day at Lord’s. Accompanied by 24 overs in the first innings of Manchester, his overall work load for the series is an astounding 129 overs.
“He’s a bit stiff and sore,” said Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach, when asked about Stokes’ chances of bowling on Sunday. “He’s had quite a big workload in the last few weeks, and then batting in the first innings, he was getting quite a bit of cramp. We are hoping that with another night’s rest and a bit more physio work overnight, he’ll be back and doing a bit tomorrow.” as mentioned by Cricbuzz
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England Prepares For Potential Absence Of Their Captain
Trescothick admitted that if Stokes cannot bowl, then it would be a big gap since he plays such an important part in England’s attack. However, he had confidence in the remainder of the team to stand up and take Stokes’ place in the team.
“It’s just a build-up,” Trescothick mentioned. “It’s such a heavy workload, from where he’s been to what he’s doing. It’s just trying to monitor it, and obviously the cramp that he was getting yesterday, you have that little bit of worry… We’ll see what he’s like tomorrow.”
“Well, of course, you know, you take anybody out of a four-man attack or five-man attack, it creates a hole. And when you’re trying to push for victory on a pitch that is, you know, quite tricky and gets quite slow after the ball gets older. You know, let’s not forget, he got five wickets in the first innings as well.
