BRIDGETOWN, April 4: England, inspired by a Matthew Hoggard hat trick, romped to an emotional eight-wicket victory over West Indies in the third Test on Saturday to clinch their first series triumph in the Caribbean since 1968.
Seamer Hoggard became only the 10th Englishman to take a Test hat trick as West Indies crumbled to 94 all out in their second innings, leaving England a target of just 93.
Captain Michael Vaughan made 32 and Marcus Trescothick 42 before Mark Butcher saw England home in just 20 overs to give them a 3-0 lead in the four-match series.
It was also the first time England have ever won three Tests in a series in West Indies. Michael Vaughan, however, seemed almost speechless before leading his players on a prolonged lap of honour in front of their chanting supporters.
"It means so much," he said. "It hasn't really sunk in. It's an amazing achievement." Rival skipper Brian Lara added: "We really have to buck up our batting. I think the guys are in a state of shock. The guys are really hurting."
While Man-of-the-Match Graham Thorpe kept England in the game on Friday with an undefeated 119 out of a total of 226, it was Hoggard who put the finishing touches.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 224 (R.R. Sarwan 63, S. Chanderpaul 50; A. Flintoff 5-58).
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 226 (G.P. Thorpe 119 not out; F.H. Edwards 4-70).
WEST INDIES (2nd Innings):
C.H. Gayle b Harmison 15
D. Ganga c Thorpe b Hoggard 11
B.C. Lara c Vaughan b Harmison 33
R.R. Sarwan c Giles b Hoggard 5
S. Chanderpaul lbw b Hoggard 0
R.O. Hinds c Flintoff b Hoggard 0
R.D. Jacobs c Butcher b Flintoff 1
T.L. Best c Trescothick b Flintoff 12
P.T. Collins run out 1
C.D. Collymore not out 6
F.H. Edwards c Hussain b Harmison 2
EXTRAS (LB-5, NB-3) 8
TOTAL (all out, 42.1 overs) 94
FALL OF WKTS: 1-19, 2-34, 3-45, 4-45, 5-45, 6-48, 7-80, 8-81, 9-85.
BOWLING: Hoggard 14-4-35-4 (1nb); Harmison 15.1-5-34-3; Flintoff 13-4-20-2 (2nb).
ENGLAND (2nd Innings):
M.E. Trescothick c Jacobs b Collymore 42
M.P. Vaughan c Jacobs b Collymore 32
M.A. Butcher not out 13
N. Hussain not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-3, W-1, NB-2) 6
TOTAL (for two wkts, 20 overs) 93
FALL OF WKTS: 1-57, 2-91.
BOWLING: Edwards 6-0-32-0; Best 3-0-18-0 (1w); Collymore 7-2-24-2; Collins 4-0-16-0 (2nb).
RESULT: England won by eight wickets.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Graham Thorpe. -Reuters
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