Mark Wood‘s breathtaking post-lunch spell netted him a five-wicket haul and put England on the brink of another comprehensive victory over West Indies, which they sealed inside three days at Edgbaston. Whereas his relentless rockets at Trent Bridge had jaws on the floor but yielded just two wickets for the match, Mark Wood‘s mastery of a reverse-swinging ball in the hour after lunch accounted for all five remaining West Indies wickets for 19 runs in the space of 39 balls.
Mark Wood ended with 5 for 40 from 14 overs, his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests, to add to his 2 for 52 from West Indies’ first innings. The burst obliterated the efforts of Mikyle Louis and Kavem Hodge, who both scored half-centuries, as West Indies were left with a paltry 81-run lead.
The run-chase was perfectly poised for England to Bazball their way to victory, especially with Ben Stokes opening in place Zak Crawley, who had left the ground for scans after injuring his finger while fielding. Ben Stokes struck a staggering 57 off 28 balls as he and Ben Duckett, with 25 off 16, mowed down the target in 7.2 overs without loss for a 3-0 series sweep.
Pitch and Toss
“Exactly the color of a pitch you want to see if you’re a touring side or home side that bats heavy” says Kumar Sangakkara talking about the pitch. “Wispy grass, not much tuftiness for the seam to hold and deviate. The wicket is going to get better and better for batting in the second and third day and spin will come into play” he adds.
Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat with one change in the squad as Gudakesh Motie comes in for Kevin Sinclair. England Team skipper Ben Stokes bowling first has made no changes to his playing XI from previous match.
Day 1 : West Indies fight back after posting 282
Half-centuries from Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder, and a useful 49 from Joshua Da Silva made for a promising batting performance but West Indies couldn’t kick on and make it count as England’s persistence with the ball saw the visitors being bowled out on Day 1 of the third Test in Edgbaston.
A collapse followed a 76-run stand for the opening wicket as West Indies lost five wickets for the addition of only 39 runs. A 109-run sixth wicket stand between Holder and Da Silva steadied West Indies but was followed by a heap of wickets as they lost four for 35 runs and eventually folded for 282. Gus Atkinson was the star of the show again, picking up 4 for 67 while Chris Woakes (3-69) and Mark Wood (2-52) also delivered with the ball.
England started positively in their reply but lost the openers in quick succession. Alzarri Joseph put down a tough catch off his own bowling to give Ben Duckett a reprieve early in the innings. Zak Crawley hit three fours in an over off Jayden Seales before he got an outside edge to second slip. Duckett fell soon after, inside edging an Alzarri delivery onto the stump.
Mark Wood came out as the nightwatchman but he fell for a eight-ball duck, edging Seales to second slip. Joe Root and Ollie Pope made it through to Stumps without further damage as England ended the day at 38/3.
Earlier, after West Indies opted to bat, Woakes and Atkinson kept their lengths full to the West Indies openers in their bid to find the edge, and even went past the bat on a few occasions. But Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis countered it and also handled a short-ball barrage from Mark Wood and Ben Stokes as they saw through the first hour without any damage. The openers registered their third successive fifty-plus stand and were managing regular boundaries, despite not being in full control of some of their shots.
But their association came to an end when Atkinson got Louis to edge to the ‘keeper to dismiss him for 26. Kirk McKenzie got going with three boundaries in an over off Atkinson, cover driving and cutting with a lot of confidence. But his brisk outing was cut short by a pacy delivery from Wood as the ball swung in, beat his defenses and uprooted the middle stump. Alick Athanaze fell off the last ball before Lunch, inside-edging a pull onto the stumps off Atkinson.
Having lost quick wickets leading into the Lunch break, West Indies found themselves in more trouble as the well-set Brathwaite and Kavem Hodge fell in quick succession. Brathwaite was looking in good touch before he gloved a short delivery from Mark Wood down the leg-side to the ‘keeper. Kavem Hodge was a victim of misjudgement and a nice bit of set up from Woakes. Having moved the ball away from the batter in his previous over, Woakes bowled a straight one and saw Hodge shoulder arms to be bowled for 13.
From 76/0, West Indies had slipped to 115/5, with the middle order having a lot of heavy lifting to do. Holder and Da Silva dug in with a watchful partnership while England lost a couple of reviews. Shoaib Bashir was finally introduced into the attack in the 44th over and he was welcomed with a boundary through midwicket by Da Silva.
A paddle shot from Holder off Bashir helped raise the half-century stand for the sixth wicket and the batter continued to attack the spinner, getting a four and a six off successive deliveries, and another boundary in his next over. They also negotiated an over from Wood where he bowled short deliveries to go into the Tea break unbeaten.
Holder and Da Silva struck a boundary each off at the start of the third session and the former went on to bring up a fine half century as the sixth wicket pair extended the partnership past 100. But England managed to end the stand thanks to Woakes who took one away from Da Silva having bowled a string of inswingers, and had the wicketkeeper-batter caught behind one short of fifty.
Alzarri stuck around with Holder for a while, adding 20 for the seventh wicket before Woakes had him caught at mid-off to bag his third wicket. Atkinson then picked up his third with an excellent delivery to beat Holder’s flick and disturb the stumps. Gudakesh Motie hit a couple of boundaries off Woakes as he helped West Indies past 250 before a superb catch from Root gave Atkinson his fourth wicket.
Shamar Joseph came up with a useful 16, including two fours off Bashir, and Seales struck a top-edged boundary off Atkinson as they helped West Indies past 280. But the 23-run final wicket stand was ended by Bashir, thanks to a good catch from Crawley, as Shamar was the last to be dismissed.
Day 2 : England wrest advantage after batting turnaround
Joe Root (87), Jamie Smith (95), Ben Stokes (54) and Chris Woakes (62) engineered England’s impressive turnaround with the bat in the second Test against West Indies after the hosts were reduced to 54/5 early on Day 2.
The partnerships for the sixth, seventh and eighth wickets were worth 115, 62 and 106 respectively, with Nos. 7, 8 and 9 registering half-centuries – only the second such instance for England in Test cricket – as the hosts finished with 376 to pick up a 94-run lead. Early wickets in West Indies’ second innings gave England further advantage as the visitors went into Stumps at 33/2, trailing by 61.
West Indies missed out on an opportunity to send Root back early in the day as they didn’t review a leg-before shout that was turned down. But they tasted success soon after as Shamar Joseph got Ollie Pope to inside-edge onto the stumps and Harry Brook departed in the next over, poking at a delivery outside off as Jayden Seales became the fifth youngest West Indian to get to the 50-wicket milestone.
The quick wickets did not prevent Root from playing his shots. Having crossed Brian Lara’s tally of 11,953 runs to take the seventh spot among leading run-scorers in Tests, Root struck a few boundaries off Alzarri Joseph. Ben Stokes had an edgy start but he hung in to build a partnership with Root, with both batters scoring at a good clip.
Root also crossed Alastair Cook’s tally (869) runs to become the leading run-getter at Edgbaston. West Indies lost a review early in the second hour after they opted for the DRS despite Shamar striking Stokes on the thigh pad. They bowled a few tight overs before Stokes decided to attack, striking boundaries off Jason Holder and swept spinner Gudakesh Motie for a six, en route to a century stand that was raised before Lunch.
Alzarri was struck for a boundary apiece by Stokes and Root in the first over of the second session. Stokes’s four helped him bring up his 33rd Test fifty while Root’s boundary helped him become only the seventh player to cross 12,000 Test runs. The partnership reached 115 before a short ball from Alzarri had Stokes caught at square leg, giving the bowler his 100th Test wicket.
Smith gloved a short ball for a four attempting a pull off Alzarri before dispatching another short one over deep midwicket. Root, meanwhile, continued untroubled, cutting one late off Motie for a four as he got into the 80s.
Smith settled in well as he helped Root in building a good partnership, scoring regular boundaries and rotating the strike well as the stand crossed 50 in quick time. He targeted Motie, cutting away a short ball and also sweeping the spinner well.
The ball was changed a couple of times and also Root got the bat changed. He was looking set for a three-figure score before he fell prey to a straight ball from Motie, playing for the non-existent spin to be trapped in front. Smith carried on and brought up another fifty, and support from Woakes helped them narrow the deficit to single figures ahead of the Tea break.
After a brief rain delay, the third session began with Smith and Woakes extending their stand past 50. Woakes struck a four off Alzarri before the bowler was hit for four boundaries in an over – three by Smith and one by Woakes – that took his runs conceded tally past 100 and England past 300. Seales also conceded boundaries as the eighth wicket pair ran the West Indies bowlers ragged. Smith smashed the short ones to the fence with ease as he entered the 90s and the partnership crossed 100.
But he missed his maiden Test ton and it was the pull that was his undoing as he was bowled by a delivery from Shamar that kept low. Woakes then got to his seventh fifty in Test cricket and continued to find the boundaries, adding to England’s lead. Woakes eventually fell to Alzarri, handing a catch to short cover.
Alzarri’s expensive outing was further compounded when Gus Atkinson hit two sixes before becoming his fourth scalp. Alzarri finished with 4-122, with his economy rate of 6.9 being the highest for a West Indian bowler in a Test innings (minimum 15 overs).
Woakes’s good day continued as he struck in the opening over, getting the ball to move away from Kraigg Brathwaite to have him bowled for a duck. Mikyle Louis had some nervous moments as an inside edge off Woakes narrowly missed the stumps and then he was put down by Stokes at mid-off off the same bowler.
Kirk McKenzie had another poor outing as he poked at an Atkinson delivery outside off and edged it to the ‘keeper. Shoaib Bashir and Mark Wood bowled until the close of play but they weren’t able to do any damage. Louis, who was saved by the umpire’s call when Wood bowled a searing yorker, and Alick Athanaze batted through to Stumps unbeaten.
Day 3 : The Mark Wood- Ben Stokes blaze powers England’s 3-0 finish
It was another early finish in the England-West Indies Test series as the hosts wrapped up the third Test at Edgbaston inside three days to seal a comprehensive 3-0 series victory.
A fightback led by fifties from Mikyle Louis and Kavem Hodge in the first session was offset by a fiery spell from Mark Wood early in the second session on Day 3 as West Indies were bowled out for 175. Louis and Hodge led West Indies’ fightback through an attacking 72-run partnership which helped the visitors score 118 runs in 27 overs, for the loss of three wickets, in the first session. But the heat from Wood’s reverse swing was too much for West Indies to handle after Lunch as they lost their last five wickets for just 19 runs.
Needing only 82 to win the match, Ben Stokes, who came out to open, struck the fastest fifty in Test cricket by an England player – the joint third fastest overall- as England raced to the target in 7.2 overs to register a facile 10-wicket victory inside eight sessions. Stokes finished unbeaten on 57 off 28 as England clean-swept West Indies in a Test series for the fourth time, all at home.
Louis and Athanaze went through a testing period early in the day as Shoaib Bashir with his turn and Mark Wood with his pace kept the batters on their toes. There were multiple edges while Athanaze also had a reprieve as Harry Brook put down a tough chance at third slip when the batter got an edge off Mark Wood. England eventually found their reward when Athanaze missed a sweep off Bashir to be trapped in front.
Hodge had an edgy start, poking at deliveries outside off from both Bashir and Wood, and the resultant edges travelled to the boundary. But he got into his groove after a while, and Louis was playing his shots confidently, as a steady partnership began to develop, one that helped West Indies into the lead inside the first hour.
Louis also struck powerful sixes off Bashir as he got to his maiden fifty-plus score. But his outing was ended by Stokes who found the edge when he tried to defend. Stokes could have got the wicket of Jason Holder too but Zak Crawley put down a relatively simple chance at second slip. Hodge then got to a 56-ball 50 after which Holder was out leg-before to Gus Atkinson, with the umpire’s call being upheld upon review from the batter.
Hodge and Joshua Da Silva were building a watchful partnership when Mark Wood trapped the West Indian wicketkeeper-batter plumb in front to start their slide. Alzarri Joseph was bowled by a quick one by Mark Wood before he removed Hodge (caught behind), Jayden Seales (bowled) and Shamar Joseph (caught at second slip) in the same over to bag his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests.
Stokes went all-guns-blazing after coming out to bat with Ben Duckett, striking as many as nine fours in the first four overs to enter the 40s in quick time. England got to 50 in 4.2 overs, equalling their own record for the fastest team fifty ((at Trent Bridge earlier in the series).
Having watched all the action from the non-striker’s end, Duckett joined in the fun, striking four fours in an over off Holder to get England within 10 runs of the target. Stokes got to a 24-ball fifty with a six off Shamar Joseph and finished the game off with a maximum off Kraigg Brathwaite.
Earlier in the Test, West Indies came up with a promising batting performance after opting to bat but they couldn’t kick on as they were bowled out for 282 on the opening day, with Atkinson bagging a four-wicket haul. In reply, England were reeling at 54/5 before Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes led an impressive turnaround with half-centuries as they posted 376 in their first innings to take a handy lead.
West Indies lost early wickets in their second essay but recovered well thanks to Louis and Hodge as they got into the lead before Mark Wood with the ball and Stokes with the bat steam-rolled them into submission.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Kraigg Braithwaite the loosing West Indies skipper said : Looking back 280 wasn’t enough (talking about the first innings batting efforts), it was a better wicket than 280. That said, we batted decently well, but the discipline (with the ball) wasn’t good enough.
It was a big moment (talking about the non-review moment against Root early on in his innings), that was a key moment but I do think generally we weren’t good enough to put the batting group under pressure for longer periods and we need to improve on that for sure.
We didn’t hit that area (top of off) long enough and it wasn’t obviously easy to control (talking about the quality of batters), so what we want to do is look at the things we did back in Australia and have more consistency and control.
We never give up, we always come back and fight. We were good in pieces, and we have two Test matches pretty much in a week’s time and so very excited for these two games coming up against South Africa. I am doing good and looking forward to these 2 Test matches, we have to see how far we have improved in the first Test against South Africa.
Ben Stokes the winning England skipper said : (On Mark Wood) Amazing, the rewards that he got there were later than he deserved. The effort that he always puts in when he puts on an England shirt is remarkable. He’s got a lion’s heart. He blew the game open for us. Definitely deserves more than what he got. Wood knows how much he affects the game from the other end, he might not always get the wickets but he knows the bowler at the other end might get them.
That spell in the afternoon was phenomenal, looked like he could take a wicket every ball. He’s very important, that hour shows why we need him in the team, the x-factor he brings in with his pace is very important. (On opening the batting) It was to keep everyone else in the same position. If it was 250-300, we might’ve just moved everyone up. (On breaking Botham’s record for the fastest fifty by an Englishman) Bottle of champagne would probably be more appreciated.
Pretty cool to go past Beefy (Botham) with that one. Gus and Jamie, what a first series for them. Gus’ debut couldn’t have got any better. He’s improved every single spell. Different conditions here and he showed his skills. Great to be able to throw the ball to two guys who’ve got such pace. Jamie Smith has been exceptional with bat and as a keeper you sort of want to be unnoticed.
He’s grown into that no.7 role very nicely. You look at where we were in this game, 54/5, 18 months ago we might’ve responded in a one-dimensional way but now everyone knows they have to do and play in a way that best suits the situation. This is a great win. Every time we walk out on to the field we want to win. We really like to focus on our process and do what we think is best, the results will then take care of themselves.
Mark Wood Player of the Match said : Bit of a relief. Speaking to the management, was a bit down and frustrated (after the previous game). Jimmy (Anderson) gave me a great chat. Tried to swing the ball and get it in the right areas. First wicket gave me a lot of confidence and went from there. You have to adapt to the conditions, my role in the team is to bowl fast and I was glad that I was able to keep the pace up.
Hopefully I can maintain it through the summer. I was a little bit down having not got the outcome I wanted (at Trent Bridge) but he wanted me to work on myself. He was more game plan focused, it’s always great to speak to Jimmy on skill aspects.
It’s hard, you have to bowl in the nets by yourself, run in, bowl, pick the ball up and bowl again. It’s boring but these are the results. Every time you play for England is special. Playing back to back Tests and keeping the pace up is great, the physio has done a lot of work on me. Body feels good.
Jayden Seales West Indies Player of the Series said : Proud of being able to represent the West Indies in Test cricket again, it is a big thing. Always looking to improve. Was deliberate for me to come across and play for Sussex to understand the conditions and see how I can utilize conditions here.
(Bowling to England) It was tough at times, they played freely and they took options once you gave them a chance. Once we all develop our skills and become better bowlers, we will become a force to be reckoned with. Body is not bad, looking forward to the next series at home.
Gus Atkinson England’s Player of the Series said : I didn’t come with any expectations (into this series), but to take a few wickets is great. It was a special (talking about the first Test at Lord’s where Anderson played his final Test)and an incredible week and one I won’t be able to forget.
To run in hard and hit the pitch hard (talking about his approach), that is all I tried to do this series and I have also learned a lot in this series about the swing and different sorts of line and length bowling and am looking forward to the next series against Sri Lanka.
Bowling with Woody (talking about Mark Wood and his spell today), he is so good and he is always there to help you out. Watching him was special and it was great to watch. It was great fun and a series I won’t forget. Looking forward to the future.
What an exhibition it has been from England in that session. First it was Mark Wood with a remarkable spell of fast bowling before Stokes came out and entertained everybody with his range of strokeplay! The people at Edgbaston got what they’d bargained for. A win that fits the Bazball bill to a tee. The day started with the odds tilted in England’s favour but not many would’ve predicted they’d return with a win inside two sessions.
After a relatively sedate morning, the West Indies were wrecked by Mark Wood as he ran through all 5 of their remaining wickets in the afternoon. Then it was the Ben Stokes show.
Opening in place of an injured Zak Crawley, the English skipper batted to entertain. He struck the ball all around, spared no one who came up against him and raced along to notch up the fastest fifty by an Englishman (24 balls). If the West Indies’ spirit wasn’t broken by the battering from Mark Wood earlier, it most certainly would’ve after that onslaught from Stokes. They were simply brushed aside.
The West Indies came into this game having shown a lot of promise at Trent Bridge. The surface here was expected to suit batting too but everything didn’t go to plan after they elected to bat first. Their middle-order crumbled once again after the openers gave a good start but a recovery effort led by Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva meant that they could recover and post something respectable.
They had England on the brink after that but they couldn’t drive home the advantage. After being reduced to 54/5, Root, Stokes, Smith and Woakes showed incredible character to not only bring England back on track but to also push them into ascendancy. They claimed a 94-run lead and made early inroads with the ball last evening. They added three more wickets this morning to the two they picked up last evening and that left us with all the jaw-dropping action we witnessed in the past couple of hours.
Ben Stokes’ England are back to winning ways and how after that disappointing tour to India earlier in the year. Yes, the West Indies weren’t quite expected to give them a real run for their money but they’ve come out here and stamped their authority once again by sweeping the series 3-0. It was a series with a lot of memorable moments, not in the least of which was Jimmy Anderson’s last Test match.
Gus Atkinson’s superb debut at Lord’s, Kavem Hodge’s fighting century at Trent Bridge, Mark Wood’s fire-breathing spell and Stokes’ blitz both here at Edgbaston – just to mention a few. It seemed like business as usual for England, no heavy celebrations in the aftermath as they look ahead to a series against Sri Lanka next. The West Indies, much like they did in Australia earlier, showed promise but lacked the proficiency once more to get past a side like England. They’ll have lots to work on before their series against South Africa at home.