The hosts of the England-West Indies Test series completed the third Test at Edgbaston in less than three days, earning a commanding 3-0 series lead. It was another early end in the series.
Ben Stokes, who opened the innings, hit the quickest fifty in Test cricket by an England player—the joint third fastest overall—as his team stormed to the goal in 7.2 overs, registering a comfortable eight-session triumph with just 82 wickets needed to win.
For the fourth time in a Test series, England won handily over the West Indies at home thanks to a standout performance by Ben Stokes(57 off 28).
Day 3 saw the West Indies bowled out for 175 as a fightback sparked by fifty-fives from Mikyle Louis and Kavem Hodge in the first session was countered by a scorching delivery from Mark Wood early in the second session. With an aggressive 72-run partnership, Louis and Hodge spearheaded the West Indies’ comeback, enabling the visitors to score 118 runs in 27 overs for the loss of three wickets in the opening session.
However, after lunch, the heat from Wood’s reverse swing proved to be too much for the West Indies, as they lost their final five wickets for a mere 19 runs.
Early in the day, Shoaib Bashir’s turn and Wood’s pace kept the batsmen on their toes, putting Louis and Athanaze through a challenging phase. Athanaze also received a break when the hitter grabbed an edge off Wood, but Harry Brook denied a close call at third slip, resulting in several edges. Eventually, Athanaze’s botched sweep off Bashir left England stuck in front, and they were rewarded.
Hodge got off to a nervous start, scything away at deliveries outside off from Wood and Bashir, and the resulting edges went to the boundary.
However, he eventually found his rhythm, and Louis started to play his shots with assurance as a reliable partnership started to form. This allowed West Indies take the lead in the first hour of play. As Louis reached his first fifty-plus score, he also hit Bashir with some strong sixes. But as he attempted to defend, Stokes found the edge and ruined his outing.
Jason Holder was another player that Stokes could have removed from the game, but Zak Crawley turned down a fairly easy chance at second slip. After Hodge reached a 56-ball 50, Holder was out leg-before to Gus Atkinson; the umpire’s decision was maintained after the batsman reviewed it.
As Hodge and Joshua Da Silva established a cautious alliance, Wood caught the West Indian wicketkeeper-batter right in front of him, causing their decline to begin. Wood removed Hodge (caught behind), Jayden Seales (bowled), and Shamar Joseph (caught at second slip) in the same over to record his seventh five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Wood first bowled Alzarri Joseph.
After Ben Duckett came out to bat, Stokes came out guns blazing, hitting nine fours in the opening four overs to quickly reach the 40s.
England matched their own record for the fastest team fifty (set earlier in the series at Trent Bridge) when they reached 50 in 4.2 overs. Duckett joined in the party after observing all the activity from the non-striker’s end. He hit four fours off Holder in one over, bringing England within ten runs of the mark. With a six off Shamar Joseph, Stokes reached a 24-ball fifty and then hit a maximum off Kraigg Brathwaite to end the match.
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West Indies chose to bat first in the Test and had a good batting performance early on. However, they were unable to sustain their innings and were bowled out for 282 on the first day, with Atkinson taking four wickets.
When England posted 376 in their first innings, they had a healthy lead. At one point, Joe Root, Stokes, Jamie Smith, and Chris Woakes led a stunning turnaround with half-centuries. In their second essay, West Indies lost early wickets but bounced back nicely behind Louis and Hodge, who put them ahead before Wood with the ball and Stokes at the bat steam-rolled them into submission.
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