(CMC) – The West Indies were condemned to a 3-0 sweep against England in the Richards-Botham Trophy Series after tearaway fast bowler Mark Wood blew away the bottom half of their batting and set up the hosts for a 10-wicket win in the third and final Test yesterday.
Opener Mikyle Louis hit the top score of 57 for the Caribbean side, and Kavem Hodge supported with 55, but a devastating spell from Wood after lunch sent the visitors crashing to 175 all out in their second innings about an hour after the interval on the third day of the match at Edgbaston.
West Indies were 151 for five at lunch, but Wood produced a destructive spell to end with five for 40 from 14 overs to make him a shoo-in for the Player-of-the-Match award and extinguish any possibilities of another fightback from the Caribbean side in the series, leaving England a modest 82 to win.
The visitors then suffered insult when Ben Stokes came to open the batting with fellow left-hander Ben Duckett because regular opener Zak Crawley had injured his hand earlier while trying to take a slip catch off Wood, and the England captain carved up their bowling to hasten his side to victory.
None of the West Indies bowlers were spared – and Stokes smashed pacer Shamar Joseph over mid-wicket for a six to set a record for the fastest 50 by an England batsman in Tests and the joint third-fastest overall off only 24 balls.
The result was formalised about 15 minutes before tea when a short but flat and faster delivery from West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite, peddling his uncomplicated off-spin, was plunked over the backward square leg boundary for six by Stokes, who finished on 57 not out, with Duckett not out on 25.
West Indies also lost the first Test that ended three Fridays ago – inside three days – by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s, and the second Test that finished last Sunday – inside four days – by 241 runs at Trent Bridge.
“For sure, looking back, I thought the 282 we got in the first innings wasn’t enough,” Brathwaite said during the post-play TV interview. “For sure, it was a better pitch than 282, but we fought back well, and our discipline altogether wasn’t good.”
He added, “Generally, I do think that we were as disciplined as we could have been with the ball. For sure, when you look at the percentages and groupings of balls, they were not good enough. They were not good enough to put any batting team under pressure for long periods.”
Three wickets – one each to Stokes, off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, and pacer Gus Atkinson – before lunch undermined the West Indies and had them reeling after they resumed from their overnight total of 33 for two – still 61 behind.
Left-hander Alick Athanaze was lbw to Bashir in the first half hour of play after he added only five to his overnight score of seven, and the Caribbean side reached the drinks break on 96 for three – a lead of only two.
Louis drove Stoke through mid-off for his fourth boundary to take the total past 100, and he smote Bashir over long-on for the first of his two sixes off the lanky off-spinner to reach his maiden Test 50 from 85 balls.
The 23-year-old Kittitian opener appeared to be getting into the swing of things when he nibbled at a delivery outside the off-stump from Stokes and was caught at second slip in the fifth over after the break.
Jason Holder came to the crease, never looked ruffled, and ushered Kavem Hodge to his 50 from 56 balls before the lanky Barbadian all-rounder played lazily across a delivery from Atkinson and was lbw for 12 in the third-last over before lunch – a dismissal confirmed after he unsuccessfully reviewed.
After lunch, there was little or no resistance from the rest of the West Indies batting, and Wood combined his searing pace, good control, and reverse swing to destroy the lower order to take five wickets in a sensational six-over spell that cost only nine.
Seales was named the West Indies Player-of-the-Series, and Atkinson was named the England Player-of-the-Series.
The Caribbean side will return this coming week to the Caribbean, where they will start preparations for a two-Test series against South Africa, starting August 7 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, with the second Test scheduled to begin on August 15 at the Guyana National Stadium.