BIRMINGHAM, England – West Indies faced a crushing defeat, suffering a 3-0 sweep against England in the Richards-Botham Trophy Series.
The decisive blow came from England’s tearaway fast bowler Mark Wood, who dismantled the lower half of their batting line-up, setting up a 10-wicket victory in the third and final Test on Sunday.
Opener Mikyle Louis top-scored for the Caribbean side with 57 runs, supported by Kavem Hodge’s 55. However, 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 at Edgbaston.
West Indies were 151 for five at lunch, but Wood’s destructive spell, yielding five wickets for 40 runs from 14 overs, extinguished any hopes of a fightback, leaving England needing only 82 runs to win.
Fastest fifty by an England batsman in Tests
Adding insult to injury, England captain Ben Stokes opened the batting with Ben Duckett after regular opener Zak Crawley injured his hand trying to take a slip catch off Wood. Stokes dominated the West Indies bowlers, scoring the fastest fifty by an England batsman in Tests, reaching the milestone off just 24 balls with nine fours and a six.
The match ended about 15 minutes before tea when Stokes, on 57 not out, hit a short, flat delivery from West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite over the backward square leg boundary for six. Duckett remained unbeaten on 25.
West Indies also lost the first Test inside three days by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s, and the second Test 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 a post-play interview. “It was a better pitch than 282, but we fought back well. Our discipline wasn’t good enough overall.”
He added, “We weren’t disciplined enough with the ball. When you look at the percentages and groupings of balls, 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 left West Indies reeling after they resumed from their overnight total of 33 for two, still 61 runs behind.
Wood’s searing pace
Alick Athanaze was lbw to Bashir in the first half hour of play, adding only five to his overnight score of seven. The Caribbean side reached the drinks break on 96 for three, a lead of only two runs. Louis drove Stokes through mid-off for his fourth boundary to take the total past 100 and hit Bashir over long-on for his first of two sixes, reaching his maiden Test fifty from 85 balls.
However, Louis was caught at second slip by Stokes after nibbling at a delivery outside off-stump shortly after the break. Jason Holder then guided Hodge to his fifty from 56 balls before being trapped lbw by Atkinson for 12 in the third-last over before lunch, a dismissal confirmed after an unsuccessful review.
After lunch, Wood’s searing pace, control, and reverse swing proved too much for the West Indies lower order, taking five wickets in a sensational six-over spell that cost just nine runs.
Jayden Seales was named the West Indies Player-of-the-Series, while Gus Atkinson was named the England Player-of-the-Series.
The West Indies will return to the Caribbean to prepare for a two-Test series against South Africa, starting August 7 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago, with the second Test scheduled to begin on August 15 at the Guyana National Stadium.
