Team Buttler vs Team Stokes: Bowlers dominate on Day 2 as Team Buttler gain a 54 run lead
A dominating performance by Team Buttler's bowlers helped them gain a lead of 54 runs as Team Stokes were bowled out for 233 at stumps on Day 2. The pacers wrecked havoc and put Team Buttler in a commanding position at the end of Day 2.
Jofra Archer and Mark Wood returned to bowl together for the first time after the 2019 ICC World Cup as they troubled the Team Stokes' batsmen with their pace and bounce and offered a promising glimpse of what they might be capable of, in tandem.
Sussex pacer Ollie Robinson also offered a reminder of his skills, bowling with precision as he accounted for Moeen Ali and Lewis Gregory in a double-wicket maiden.
He returned with impressive figures of 2-7 in his 9 overs. Stuart Broad could find himself vulnerable to the growing competition, with him going wicket-less. All the bowlers except Broad had a wicket to their name, meaning that the experienced pacer's place in the playing eleven could come under a cloud.
Moeen Ali's return also didn't go quite to plan as he could only score 5 runs after returning wicket-less on Day 1. Dominic Bess could retain his position in the Test side as he bowled wonderfully and returned with figures of 2-60 in 20 overs.
Bess bowled extremely tidily and looked much better than Jack Leach and Moeen Ali. Additionally, he also chipped in with a couple of important scalps, with his dismissal of Keaton Jennings before lunch a prime example.
Team Stokes could not string partnerships together
Team Stokes kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Though quite a few batsmen got good starts, none of them could make it count.
The top batting performances were from Zak Crawley who scored a 77-ball 43 and from skipper Ben Stokes, who departed for 41 after being stumped by Buttler off Matthew Parkinson.
Ben Foakes tried to provide a little stability to Team Stokes' innings but failed in his endeavors as he perished to Jofra Archer.
Meanwhile, Ashes hero Jack Leach also chipped in with an unbeaten 25 off 64 deliveries, which included three boundaries.
Brief Scores:
Team Stokes: 233/10 (Crawley 43, Stokes 41; Ollie Robinson 2-7, Archer 2-37)
trail by 54 runs against Team Buttler: 287/5 dec