• England's Jos Buttler catches out West Indies' Jermaine Blackwood on day five of the Manchester Test on Monday. Reuters
    England's Jos Buttler catches out West Indies' Jermaine Blackwood on day five of the Manchester Test on Monday. Reuters
  • England's Chris Woakes celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of West Indies' Shane Dowrich duringthe final day of the second Test in Manchester. AFP
    England's Chris Woakes celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of West Indies' Shane Dowrich duringthe final day of the second Test in Manchester. AFP
  • West Indies' Jason Holder, left, and Shamarh Brooks during day five of the Manchester Test on Monday. PA
    West Indies' Jason Holder, left, and Shamarh Brooks during day five of the Manchester Test on Monday. PA
  • England's Sam Curran, right, celebrates the dismissal of West Indies' Shamarh Brooks. AP
    England's Sam Curran, right, celebrates the dismissal of West Indies' Shamarh Brooks. AP
  • Jason Holder of West Indies is bowled by Dom Bess. Getty
    Jason Holder of West Indies is bowled by Dom Bess. Getty
  • England's Ben Stokes, left, with West Indies' Jason Holder after England wrap up the Test on the final day in Manchester. AFP
    England's Ben Stokes, left, with West Indies' Jason Holder after England wrap up the Test on the final day in Manchester. AFP
  • England's Ollie Pope takes the winning catch to dismiss West Indies' Kemar Roach. PA
    England's Ollie Pope takes the winning catch to dismiss West Indies' Kemar Roach. PA
  • England's Jos Buttler takes the catch to dismiss West Indies' Jermaine Blackwood. AFP
    England's Jos Buttler takes the catch to dismiss West Indies' Jermaine Blackwood. AFP
  • West Indies' Jermaine Blackwood falls in an attempt to play a rising delivery from England's Ben Stokes. AP
    West Indies' Jermaine Blackwood falls in an attempt to play a rising delivery from England's Ben Stokes. AP
  • England's Chris Woakes appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of West Indies' Shamarh Brooks. PA
    England's Chris Woakes appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of West Indies' Shamarh Brooks. PA

Ben Stokes leads the way as England level Test series against West Indies


Paul Radley
  • English
  • Arabic

After two matches, and two last-session finishes, the lockdown Test series will go to a decider later this week after England bounced back against West Indies.

The home side kept alive their hopes of regaining the Wisden Trophy as they won by 113 runs at Old Trafford.

It was a personal triumph for one player in particular. As per the official world rankings, Ben Stokes is not even the best all-rounder in this series.

Jason Holder, the opposition captain, is the eminent player on that measure, and had got the better of Stokes in their duel in the opening Test, which West Indies won.

Many subjective opinions would have Stokes down as the world’s No 1 player at present, though. Especially after performances like this.

Having scored an uncharacteristically attritional 176 in the first innings, he blazed a brutal 78 not out in 57 balls while opening the batting in the second.

That enabled Joe Root to declare the England innings on 129-3, and set the tourists 312 to win in 85 overs.

Stokes played a key role with the ball, too. He broke the key partnership between Jermaine Blackwood and Shamarh Brooks, which had been worth 100, as he bounced out Blackwood.

Three balls earlier, Stokes had chased a ball all the way to the boundary behind him, off his own bowling.

Once Stokes had prised the opening, wickets fell regularly, and it felt as though he was going to finish it off himself.

He had Alzarri Joseph caught by Dom Bess at point, leaving just Shannon Gabriel to see the away side through more than an hour, in concert with Kemar Roach, to save the game.

With one wicket needed, though, Stokes pulled up, two balls short of finishing his 15th over, with what appeared to be discomfort in his left thigh.

Stokes stayed on the field, suggesting it was merely precautionary, and Bess promptly secured the final wicket, as Roach was brilliantly caught at short leg by Ollie Pope.

The sides will meet again at the same ground for the finale, which starts on Friday.

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:

Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.

Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.

Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.

Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.

Saraya Al Khorasani:  The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.

(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)

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How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
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The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

Fanney Khan

Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora

Director: Atul Manjrekar

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand

Rating: 2/5 

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill

Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.

THE SIXTH SENSE

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

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