Atkinson, Wood and Woakes Shine, Seales Strikes Late as West Indies Post 282
Gus Atkinson’s four-wicket haul, accompanied by Chris Woakes and Mark Wood’s key contributions help bowl out West Indies for 282, while Jayden Seales’ late strikes leave England at 38 for 3 on the opening day of the 3rd Test at Edgbaston.
West Indies ended the first day of the third Test at Edgbaston with England virtually even, thanks to bursts of fighting spirit. The tourists’ task now is to convert the glimmer of optimism they’ve had since the beginning of the second Test into moments that can win the match.
England 38 for 3 (Crawley 18, Seales 2-19) trail West Indies 282 (Brathwaite 61, Holder 59, Atkinson 4-67, Woakes 3-69) by 244 runs.
Despite some superb bowling by Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes, a subpar first innings 282 seemed to be led by fifty-score runs from Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder. However, Jayden Seales leveled the score late in the day after taking two of the three England wickets to fall.
Memories of their defeat at Lord’s were briefly obliterated by West Indies’ valiant opening innings at Trent Bridge, when they edged out England. However, their collapse in the second innings of the second Test consigned all of their good work to hope for the future, and a large portion of the opening day of play in the third Test felt like miniature copies of that tale.
A collapse of 5 for 39 in 7.2 overs was preceded by a 76-run opening stand between Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis. Then there was the 109-run partnership between Holder and Joshua Da Silva at the sixth wicket, which was undone by Woakes and Atkinson regaining the swing that had vanished for a portion of the day.
There was a twist, though, as the home team finished on 38 for 3, trailing 244 runs, when both England openers were out with consecutive balls and nightwatcher Mark Wood was also removed.
After Zak Crawley had spilled a return catch off Ben Duckett in the previous over, Seales had him out edging to Holder with his 12th ball, then with the opening ball of his following over, Alzarri Joseph had him out chopping onto his stumps. After giving England enough to consider over the course of the night, Wood trailed behind, edging Seales to Holder at second slip.
Woakes created enough movement with a fuller one that swung down the leg side to beat Da Silva and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who parried it away for four byes, with the ball 61 overs old and the pitch unresponsive. In the subsequent round, he struck Da Silva’s front pad with a somewhat forceful blow that appeared to be traveling down the side of his leg.
And voilà . With a back-of-a-length delivery that pitched outside off, Woakes coaxed Da Silva into a loose waft. The right-hander then tried to thread it through backward point, but Smith, one run short of his half-century, was edged out. England needed that wicket badly after West Indies had rallied from 115 for 5.
After that, Woakes had the ball swinging correctly once more, and he claimed his third wicket when he hit an outswinger that Ben Stokes at mid-off skied straight by Alzarri Joseph.
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With his third, Atkinson struck out Holder with a beauty that pitched the ball on middle and swung away, deflecting the batter’s off stump as he attempted to play across the line. Holder’s glacial walk off the field captured exactly how the West Indies were feeling at that moment.
After that, Atkinson dismissed Gudakesh Motie with a short ball that caused the batsman to crouch and shove his bat above his head. The ball then flew over a leaping Smith, and Joe Root produced a stunning dive, flinging the ball out of his hand where it amazingly lodged.
As Crawley raced across from long off to take the catch after Shamar Joseph blasted a high ball down the ground, Shoaib Bashir, the off-spinning star of England’s second-Test victory, claimed the final wicket.
Louis had earlier faced 22 balls to begin his innings, hitting Atkinson with a run and a cover point. However, having won the toss, the West Indies were 49 runs ahead of the opposition after an hour.
After steering a full Stokes delivery past point to reach 49, Brathwaite reached his half-century with the very next ball. Since July of last year, it was his first fifty in nine Test innings.
But it was Atkinson who made the first breakthrough, giving Smith a poke behind him and drawing an edge with a short ball that was slipping away. Louis reached double figures for the seventh time in as many Test innings in his young career, although he hasn’t yet surpassed the 27 he scored on his debut in the opening game of this series at Lord’s.
Although Wood’s pace was not as fast as it was at Trent Bridge, it still posed enough issues for the West Indies.
A short ball gave Brathwaite a severe knock to the box, leaving him doubled up. Kirk McKenzie hit three boundaries in four deliveries from Atkinson before Wood removed him for 12 in his following over, crushing his middle stump with an inswinging yorker that clocked 91 mph.
At the stroke of lunch, Atkinson took his second wicket as Alick Athanaze dropped a short ball that stayed low onto his off stump, taking the West Indies to 97 for 3.
The hosts were in control of the afternoon session thanks to two early wickets. After lunch, Brathwaite had only gained five runs when he was caught trying to take off a shorter ball from Wood from behind down the leg side. Replays revealed that Brathwaite’s right glove, which was off the bat handle at the moment, may have come off during the catch, further compounding the West Indies’ problems.
After just two deliveries, a delivery from Woakes was mishandled by Kavem Hodge, who curled it towards middle and off stumps before straightening slightly and smashing onto the top of off.
