England Secures Series Sweep with Dominant 3-0 Victory Against West Indies
England defeated the West Indies 3-0 to clinch a perfect sweep of the Test series with a commanding display of ability and strength.
After lunch, Mark Wood’s remarkable performance was crucial in securing a triumph in just three days. In lieu of the injured Crawley, Stokes came out to begin and hammered an unbeaten 57 in 28 balls with just 82 needed to win the Test.
England 376 (Smith 95, Root 87, Woakes 62, Stokes 54, A Joseph 4-122, Seales 3-79) and 87 for 0 (Stokes 57*, Duckett 25*) beat West Indies 282 (Brathwaite 61, Holder 59, Atkinson 4-67, Woakes 3-69) and 175 (Louis 57, Hodge 55, Wood 5-40) by ten wickets.
With a five-wicket haul after noon, Mark Wood’s amazing post-lunch stint placed England on the verge of yet another convincing win over the West Indies, which they completed in three days at Edgbaston.
While his unrelenting rockets at Trent Bridge left people’s mouths dropping, they only produced two wickets for the entire match. However, an hour after lunch, his mastery of the reverse-swinging ball explained all five of the remaining wickets held by the West Indies, allowing them to score 19 runs in just 39 balls. In addition to his 2 for 52 from the first innings against the West Indies, Wood finished with 5 for 40 from 14 overs, his seventh five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Mikyle Louis and Kavem Hodge both struck half-centuries, but their efforts were completely destroyed by the burst, leaving West Indies with a meager 81-run lead.
Ben Stokes opened in place of Zak Crawley, who had left the field for scans after hurting his finger while fielding, and the run-chase looked set up for England to Bazball their way to victory. Ben Duckett, with 25 off 16, and Stokes, with an incredible 57 off 28 balls, smashed the mark in 7.2 overs without giving up a wicket to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
England equaled their team record set at Trent Bridge as they reached fifty off just 26 balls. Stokes scored forty-one of those runs this time. After being instrumental in setting the fastest-fifty record in Nottingham, Duckett appeared weary of taking on a supporting role. In just one Jason Holder over, he hit four boundaries.
Stokes, on the other hand, struck the winning runs, swinging a waist-high full-toss from Kraigg Brathwaite for six through backward square-leg, underscoring the one-sided nature of the series despite some encouraging moments of fight from the West Indies. Stokes recorded the fastest Test fifty for an England batter and tied for third fastest overall, off just 24 balls.
In the morning session, it was Stokes who had first got the ball reversing. In the afternoon, he made effective use of Wood and Gus Atkinson, who had previously taken two wickets for the day. Joshua Da Silva had not moved from his lunchtime score of 2 when he was hit by a reverse-swinging yorker that swung at 90 mph. Wood strongly objected to the delivery, but umpire Adrian Holstock remained unmoved, and the batter survived England’s review on the umpire’s call.
The West Indies were five wickets down and only 57 runs ahead at that point. However, Da Silva only managed to score three more runs after Wood had declared him out for sure with a delivery that moved past the bat and struck low on the back leg in line with the middle stump.
Soon after, Wood’s yorker reversed out of Alzarri Joseph’s middle stump, leaving the West Indies at 162 for 7, with England clearly leading. Three wickets fell in an over that proved to be a profitable decision for Stokes, who had good reason to keep Wood on for a rare sixth over.
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The last recognized batsman for the West Indies, Hodge, was removed by Wood with the opening ball when he got a thick edge on a late-reversing rocket that Jamie Smith caught behind.
The procession continued when Wood sent Jayden Seales crashing off stump for a three-ball duck. He then finished it with a late reverse-swinging delivery that Shamar Joseph edged to Harry Brook at second slip. West Indies were down 53 for 3 but Louis and Hodge had stabilized them with a 72-run partnership off 78 balls for the fourth wicket.
Alick Athanaze, who scored 10 runs for the day, including a four off Wood through third slip, which Brook had his hands on but was unable to hold, was dismissed by Shoaib Bashir before they were reunited. Bashir clipped Athanaze’s front pad with a ball that slid under his attempted sweep five balls after the reprieve.
Based on his century at Trent Bride, Hodge offered the West Indies grounds for optimism, and he delivered with his second fifty in the Test. He hit two consecutive fours from Wood, one of which looped through midwicket and the other a gorgeous drive.
With a slog-swept six from Bashir, Louis reached his half-century. In Bashir’s next over, he helped himself to another maximum, clearing the boundary far away.
Louis was fighting off one that pitched on a length outside off stump and edging to Crawley at second slip while Stokes was getting the ball to reverse swing.
When Crawley dropped Holder, who was on 12 at the time, off Stokes, he was in the same position and hurt his finger. However, Atkinson removed Holder at the end of the next over with an inswinger that struck the front knee roll, and the batter’s review was unsuccessful because ball-tracking determined that the umpire had called the hit leg stump.
Stokes Praises ‘Phenomenal’ Mark Wood After Series-Sealing Performance at Edgbaston
Ben Stokes, the captain of England, feels that Mark Wood’s crucial five-wicket haul on the last day of England’s 3-0 Test sweep against West Indies is a belated reward for his gutsy performance throughout the series.
Fast bowler’s brilliant performance of 5 for 7 in 21 balls sweeps the West Indies off their feet.
Wood missed the first Test, thus his remarkable display of blistering pace in the second Test at Trent Bridge cost him just two wickets overall. However, an extremely sharp six-over stint after lunch on the third day at Edgbaston turned the tide of the match completely in England’s favor. In addition to his 2 for 52 from the West Indies’ opening innings, he claimed the final five wickets of the opposition in a span of 21 balls thanks to his pace and reverse swing, which also gave him stats of 5 for 40 from 14 overs.
Additionally, it meant that England only needed to score 82 runs in their second innings to win the game. Ben Duckett’s 25 off 16 and Stokes’s undefeated 57 off 28 balls helped them reach the target in just 7.2 overs, winning by 10 wickets.
During the post-match presentation, Stokes remarked of Wood, “I think the rewards that he got there was sort of later than he actually deserved to get them.” “He always puts up an incredible amount of effort when he dons his England shirt. He possesses the heart of a lion, and as a captain, that brief 45–60 minute window when he held the ball is ideal.
“He was really amazing—quick, incredibly skilled, and he really opened the game for us there. I’m merely thrilled for him. It’s fantastic to see him leave with a five-for, even though he clearly deserved more.” Wood, the Player of the Match, acknowledged that his win was a “bit of relief”.
“At lunchtime I was down and frustrated, but I focused on the skills side of things,” Wood stated. “I entered the game thanks to the first wicket, which also gave me a lot of confidence. I believe you have to adjust to the circumstances. My job as a team member is to bowl quickly. I’m hoping I can carry on like that through the summer.” However, Stokes emphasized how vital Wood is to the group.
“Woody knows how much he affects the game from the other end,” Stokes stated. “He may not always receive the same rewards for bowling as quickly and skillfully as he does. He exerts a great deal of pressure on the two men in the middle, and the other man may end up taking the wicket at the other end. This afternoon’s spell was simply amazing. It seems as though he would get a wicket every ball, and it will undoubtedly be more difficult when the ball is swinging in reverse at 93 mph.
Stokes was also pleased with England Player of the Series Gus Atkinson, who took 22 wickets at an average of 16.22 for the series, which included the first three matches of his inexperienced Test career, and Jamie Smith, who played only his third Test match after scoring 70 on debut at Lord’s and fell five runs short of a maiden century in England’s first innings at Edgbaston. In Birmingham, Smith’s 95 was vital when England’s opening innings collapsed at 54 for 5.
“Gus and Jamie, what a first series in international cricket for those two,” Stokes commented. “Gus’s game debut couldn’t have gone any better, scoring 12 runs, but even after that, I believe he’s gotten better with each spell he’s played.
“This week, on a slower pitch, he demonstrated his skills as the ball started to reverse, demonstrating that he had been exposed to conditions distinct from those at Lords, which are slightly flatter wickets that make batting easier. Being able to toss the ball to two players with tremendous talent and speed is awesome.
“Jamie Smith, I know he’s made some outstanding knocks, but you want to go unnoticed as a keeper, and I think he’s been outstanding behind the stumps. Without any prior experience, he developed into the number seven position and fit in with this team flawlessly. I’m overjoyed for them two.
Even though England’s run-chase performance of 87 runs off just 44 balls resembled previous iterations of the Bazball strategy, Stokes admitted that the team’s efforts in this series were a refining of it.
“You look at where we were in this game, we were 50 for 5,” Stokes stated. When we were under pressure, everyone knew what was expected of them—that is, to go out there and play whatever game best suited them to assess the situation. Eighteen months or two years ago, we might have responded to that situation in a sort of one-dimensional way. Being wise in your decisions, but always clearly trying to apply more pressure to the adversary.
“I don’t believe that as a team or as supporters, we should undervalue this victory. West Indies scored a respectable amount. We were down 50 for 5, so to come back and win in three days, I think that’s really great, and it speaks volumes about the progress the squad has made since Brendan and I took over. This is a really, really nice victory.
The news that Crawley had broken his finger while fielding earlier in the day was one setback for England. The injury allowed Stokes to become the fastest fifty-year-old England Test hitter to open in the opening position, but it was unclear what the long-term effects would be since there were rumors that Crawley would need surgery.
