by Mick the Ram

England raced away with the 3rd Test match at Edgbaston against the West Indies, to seal a comfortable 3-0 series victory.

The tourists had posted a decent first innings total and had England struggling with five down for not very many, but allowed them off the hook before the hosts achieved a strong lead.

Second time around the West Indies were battling well with an impressive fifty from Mikyle Louis helping the cause, until they collapsed losing their last 7 wickets for just 50 runs.

It meant that all that was needed was just 82 to win and captain Ben Stokes promoted himself to open the second innings and proceeded to hit the fastest half-century for England in just 28 balls as the target was reached in only 7.2 overs.  

Off to a steady start

Already two down and the series beyond them, this game was a chance for the West Indies to demonstrate how much they have progressed from the humiliating defeat at Lords in the first Test.

They were off to another good start with the opening pair of Kraigg Braithwaite and Mikyle Louis once again passing the 50 mark together. The skipper went on to make a very good 61 and this was backed up by a fine 59 from Jason Holder, who shared a century stand with Joshua da Silva for the 6th wicket.

Missed opportunity

A total of 282 all out represented a reasonable effort and hopes of a confidence-building victory were high when they reduced England to 54-5. However, they would regret not reviewing an LBW appeal for Joe Root’s wicket, when the former captain had made just three.

The umpire’s decision was not out, but the TV replay showed that he would have been out. One of England’s all-time best batters went on to make 87 and in company with Jamie Smith – who stroked a classy 95 – they helped overturn the deficit and create a lead of 94.

Legend in attendance

Watching on was Brian Lara, who was returning to the ground where he hit his famous record-breaking 501 not out, a little over 30 years ago.

He would have hoped that the West Indies could survive the final hour of day two without any issues, but probably feared the worst when captain Braithwaite was out to the last ball of the opening over, without scoring.

Hope remained

Nevertheless, there would still be hopes of taking the test at least to a fourth day and potentially a fifth, so excellent fifties from Louis and Kavem Hodge certainly put them in a better place to do so.

At lunch on Day three 147-5 was steady enough to suggest there might be a chance to bat through the day and set England a testing chase.

Express deliveries

Unfortunately they ran into to a post-lunch express in the shape of Mark Wood, who took 5-9 in six overs and single-handedly blew the tourists away.

They were all out for 175, leaving England a token 82 to win.

Record-breaker

Usual Opening bat Zak Crawley suffered a broken finger in the field, so Ben Stokes decided he would finish proceedings in double quick time himself, as he stepped up to the top of the order.

He smashed his way to the quickest Test fifty by an England player, achieving the feat in just 24 balls, beating the record previously held by Sir Ian Botham, who did it in 28 balls, back in 1981.

Humble skipper pays tribute to teammates

When Stokes put the second ball of the seventh over into the crowd, the game was over. He said afterwards that he was seeing the ball “quite well” and paid tribute to Wood and Smith for their contributions, particularly his fast bowler.

“That was his reward he deserved after last week and to see him bowling not just fast, but with extreme skill shows why you want express pace in your team.”

Discipline lacking

West Indies skipper, Brathwaite, summed up the performance and series by admitting: “It was tough for sure”. He felt his side had not shown a lot of discipline with the ball and had let their opponent off the hook too many times.

“We got about four or five half centuries and it could make a big difference if those guys could’ve carried on, including myself, in terms of the total,” he said, before accepting that they allowed England to score “way too fast” and hadn’t “come consistently to the party throughout the entire Test” or series for that matter.

Unable to sustain positive moments

Essentially, the West Indies spluttered into life occasionally and haven’t disgraced themselves. They have had some decent passages of play, but this group will need to learn that Test cricket is about sustaining those passages over prolonged sessions.

They showed promise, but ultimately came up quite a good way short.