(CMC) – A stunning collapse in a nightmare final hour saw the West Indies surrender the Richards-Botham Trophy with a demoralising 241-run defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge yesterday.
There was no sign of the carnage to come when the West Indies, set an improbable 385 for victory, battled to 61 without loss at the end of the first hour, captain Kraigg Brathwaite (47) and opening partner Mikyle Louis (17) safely negotiating the new-ball barrage from England’s quicks.
However, once Louis nicked the first ball following the drinks break from seamer Chris Woakes (2-28) and was caught at the wicket, the West Indies lost 10 wickets for 82 runs to tumble to 142 all out, losing the Test with a day to spare to fall 2-0 behind in the three-Test series.
Twenty-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, in only his fifth Test, punished the West Indies with a career-best five for 41, becoming the youngest-ever English bowler to take a five-wicket haul at home, while first Test hero Gus Atkinson supported with two for 49.
“A win was on our minds as a team, but pretty much we lost all of our wickets in one session, so we know that was not good enough,” said Brathwaite.
“To be honest, the pitch was quite good today, so I felt as though it was still a good pitch. We just didn’t bat good enough.
“[I’m] disappointed because obviously I knew we can do a lot better than we showed today. But the main thing is to learn from it. It’s gone; it’s history; we can’t bring it back.”
Resuming the fourth morning in control at 248 for three in their second innings, England consolidated their advantage before being dismissed on the stroke of tea for 425, thanks to former captain Joe Root’s 122 and Harry Brook’s 109 – the pair extending their fourth wicket stand to 189 before being separated.
Root, who began the morning on 37, reached 81 not out at lunch before going on to complete his 32nd Test hundred, facing 178 deliveries in just over five hours and counting 10 fours. Brook, on 71 overnight, faced 132 balls in 188 minutes and struck 13 fours before becoming the day’s first casualty, nicking behind off Seales, who was the West Indies’ best bowler with four for 97.
Root then took responsibility for the innings, putting on 30 for the seventh wicket with Woakes (12) and 41 for the eighth with Atkinson (21 not out) after lunch before he was eighth out, taken at short cover by Kirk McKenzie off medium pacer Jason Holder.
Seales finished off the innings quickly with the two final wickets as England lost their last three for just six runs.
Tasked with overhauling a challenging total in the last four sessions of the contest, West Indies looked set to comfortably push the game into today’s final day when Brathwaite and Louis carefully crafted the foundations of the chase in an intelligent half-century opening stand.
Brathwaite once again got a start, hitting eight fours in an uncharacteristically breezy 48-ball knock while Louis spent 40 balls at the crease, striking two boundaries.
Louis’s demise, however, opened the floodgates for England in the final hour. Left-hander Kirk McKenzie’s miserable series continued when he edged a cut at Bashir and was taken low down by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith for one, and Brathwaite followed via the same route off Woakes, leaving the Caribbean side on 74 for three.
With one run added, first innings century-maker Kavem Hodge played back to the fourth ball he faced and was lbw to Bashir without scoring, and left-hander Alick Athanaze (1) also failed to make an impression, pushing forward to Bashir and edging low to Root at first slip.
When Kevin Sinclair fended off a snorter from speedster Mark Wood and lobbed a straightforward catch to second slip for one, the West Indies were sliding further at 91 for six, and Jason Holder’s counter-attacking 37 off 42 balls with four fours and two sixes only served to delay the inevitable.
Wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva (14) and Alzarri Joseph perished three balls apart in one over from Atkinson, and Holder eventually played down the wrong line to Bashir and was bowled off stump.
Shamar Joseph failed to muster any of his first innings fireworks and lasted 11 balls before missing a heave at Bashir and having his stumps rattled.
The final Test bowls off at Edgbaston next Friday.
