London, Jul 18 (IANS): Ben Stokes continued his hot run of form with an epic 176 off 356 balls over the course of the first two days of England's second Test against the West Indies. Stokes' innings, coupled with his 260-run stand with Dom Sibley who himself scored 120 off 372 deliveries, helped put England firmly in the driver's seat as they look to level the three-match Test series.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was all praise for Stokes. "England's best player ... England's best fielder ... England's most impactful bowler ... England's best batsman at the moment delivers once again ... @benstokes38 is a freak ... nothing he cannot do ... #TestCricket #ENGvWI," Vaughan tweeted on Saturday.
The innings showed the full array of Stokes' range as a batsman as the all-rounder blocked away the West Indies bowling attack alongwith Sibley for much of the last session on Day 1 and much of the first two sessions of Day 2 before unleashing his attacking strokeplay. He was dismissed while attempting a reverse slap off a length delivery from Kemar Roach.
Stokes' century made him only the fifth all-rounder after Garry Sobers, Ian Botham, Ravi Shastri and Jacques Kallis to have scored 10 centuries or more and taken more than 150 wickets.
West Indies will start the third day of the Test on 32/1, trailing England by 437 runs who eventually declared on 469/9.