BIRMINGHAM: Ben Stokes hit the fastest Test fifty by an England batsman as the hosts hammered the West Indies by 10 wickets to win the third Test at Edgbaston on Sunday.
Set 82 to win, England finished on 87-0 in a mere 7.2 overs as they completed a 3-0 series whitewash of the West Indies in spectacular style and with more than two days to spare.
England captain Stokes, opening in place of the injured Zak Crawley, needed just 24 balls to go to a fifty featuring nine fours and a six.
He bettered the previous record quickest Test-match fifty by an England batsman of 28 balls set by Ian Botham against India at Delhi back in 1981.
Stokes ended the match by pulling West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s part-time spin for six to finish 57 not out.
“Everyone in the changing room said they’d do it (open the innings), but I said I would,” explained Stokes. “A couple hit the middle of the bat, I was seeing it quite well.”
‘UNBELIEVABLE WOOD’
Earlier, express fast bowler Mark Wood polished off the tail with a superb spell of 5-9 in six overs to finish with 5-40 in 14 overs as the West Indies were dismissed for 175 in their second innings.
“Wood was unbelievable this afternoon,” said Stokes. “To see him bowling not just fast but with extreme skill, and when the ball’s swinging he’s very difficult to face. That’s why you want express pace in your team.” Wood, the player of the match, said he had been in a “bad fettle” at lunch before England great James Anderson, now the squad’s fast-bowling mentor following his Test retirement, revived his spirits.
“I had a great conversation with Jimmy,” said Wood. “He just said, rather than thinking about the outcome, to start thinking about the skill element.” “So, after the lunch break, all I tried to do was focus on running hard again and that skill element of moving the ball.” Brathwaite accepted a largely youthful West Indies team had been outplayed throughout the three Tests.
“It was a tough series, for sure,” he said. “We let them (England) off the hook a lot of times and they were scoring way too fast.
“Batting-wise, I think we didn’t get enough second innings runs in the last two Test matches.”
West Indies opener Mikyle Louis, whose 57 was his maiden Test fifty, and Kavem Hodge (55) offered some resistance on Sunday but the next highest score in the innings was 12.
The tourists resumed on 33-2, still 61 runs behind an England first-innings 376, where Jamie Smith fell agonisingly short of a maiden Test century in making 95 while further fifties from Joe Root (87), Chris Woakes (62) and Stokes (54) helped the hosts recover from a collapse to 54-5.
Louis was 18 not out overnight, after being dropped by Stokes on nine, and Athanaze five not out.
Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir and Wood opened the bowling after the pair had teamed up to good effect during England’s 241-run win in the second Test at Trent Bridge.
Athanaze was lbw for 12 to the 20-year-old Bashir after missing a sweep.
But the West Indies did avoid the embarrassment of a second innings defeat in three Tests following an innings and 114-run loss at Lord’s.
Louis completed a maiden Test fifty in style when he slog-swept Bashir for six.
But the 23-year-old fell soon afterwards when he edged Stokes to second slip.
Hodge, who made his maiden Test century at Trent Bridge, went to fifty in just 56 balls, including seven fours.
But the West Indies, 151-5 at lunch, folded tamely as Wood ripped through the lower order with a potent combination of speed, movement and well-directed bouncers.
The 34-year-old ended the innings when he had Shamar Joseph well caught at second slip by Harry Brook.
Crawley’s finger injury, suffered while dropping a slip catch earlier Sunday, was the cue for left-handed batsman’s Stokes blistering assault that delighted a capacity, sun-drenched crowd.
He set the tone by thumping Alzarri Joseph for two fours off successive balls and drove Jason Holder, whose two overs cost an expensive 31 runs, back over the towering all-rounder’s head.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 282 (K. Brathwaite 61, J. Holder 59; G. Atkinson 4-47,)
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 376 (J. Smith 95, J. Root 87; A. Joseph 4-122)
WEST INDIES (2nd Innings, overnight: 33-2):
K. Brathwaite b Woakes 0
M. Louis c Crawley b Stokes 57
K. McKenzie c Smith b Atkinson 8
A. Athanaze lbw b Bashir 12
K. Hodge c Smith b Wood 55
J. Holder lbw b Atkinson 12
J. Da Silva lbw b Wood 5
A. Joseph b Wood 2
G. Motie not out 8
J. Seales b Wood 0
S. Joseph c Brook b Wood 4
EXTRAS (LB-10, NB-2) 12
TOTAL (all out, 52 overs) 175
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Brathwaite), 2-22 (McKenzie), 3-53 (Athanaze), 4-125 (Louis), 5-146 (Holder), 6-156 (Da Silva), 7-162 (A. Joseph), 8-171 (Hodge), 9-171 (Seales)
BOWLING: Woakes 6-2-14-1, Atkinson 9-0-28-2 (2nb), Bashir 15-1-41-1, Wood 14-1-40-5, Stokes 8-0-42-1
ENGLAND (2nd Innings):
B. Stokes not out 57
B. Duckett not out 25
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1) 5
TOTAL (for no wicket, 7.2 overs) 87
DID NOT BAT: Z. Crawley, O. Pope, J. Root, H. Brook, J. Smith, C. Woakes, G. Atkinson, M. Wood, S. Bashir
BOWLING: A. Joseph 3-0-25-0, Seales 1-0-11-0, Holder 2-0-31-0, S. Joseph 1-0-9-0, Brathwaite 0.2-0-6-0
RESULT: England won by 10 wickets.
PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Mark Wood
SERIES: England won the three-match series 3-0.
Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2024
