Mark Wood delivered a devastating fast delivery to take West Indies’ final five wickets before Ben Stokes produced a blistering 50 from 24 balls to give England a 10-wicket win at Edgbaston and take the series 3-0.
Wood (5-40) bowled without luck at the start of the third day but returned after lunch to take five wickets for just nine runs in six overs, with the stumps of Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Shields cartwheeling out of the ground.
Mikhail Lewis (57) and Kavem Hodge (55) performed reasonably well, with the former scoring a blistering half-century, his first in Test cricket, as West Indies built up a slim lead.
However, England captain Ben Stokes, filling in for Zak Crawley – who was absent for a medical examination after injuring the index finger on his right hand in morning training – easily reached the required 82 runs.
Stokes (55 off 28 balls) smashed nine boundaries and one six to record England’s fastest ever Test fifty, as the hosts reached the target in just 7.2 overs to seal the series in the most spectacular fashion.
West Indies resumed the match at 33 for 2 in the second innings, still trailing by around 61 runs. England rapidly strengthened their position in the seventh over of the day with the wicket of Alick Athanadze (12) lbw off Shoaib Bashir (1-41), shortly after he had been dropped by Harry Brook off a delivery from Wood in the previous over.
Hodge was also out with his first ball, but another tough chance slipped past Joe Root’s outstretched left hand.
He made the most of the reprieve, landing a few counter-punches to put West Indies in the lead, and Lewis was also starting to free his arms, hitting the first of two brilliant successive sixes off Basheer to reach his maiden Test fifty.
But just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, Stokes (1-42) invited Lewis to make the breakthrough with a routine nick back to Jamie Smith.
Crawley was injured when he dropped Jason Holder at second slip for 12 but the error did not cost England a run. Gus Atkinson (2-28) got him out in the next over but failed to score. The former West Indies captain was a little unlucky to see an ‘umpire’s decision’ go against him for a narrow lbw just off the leg stump.
Hodge had reached an audacious fifty off 56 balls the previous time round but, hungry for strikes after lunch and with Wood finding it much harder to score as he led the way in victory, he managed just three runs off 18 balls.
As the ball swung the other way, Wood first caught the tenacious Joshua da Silva (5) and then got Alzarri (2) out with a brutal york ball that destroyed his middle stump.
West Indies’ innings ended swiftly with three wickets in one over as Hodge got out, Shields’ off stump was flat and Shamar Joseph hit a thick-edged drive to Brook.
The match ended just 7.2 overs later with Stokes’ 24-ball fifty, coming close to breaking Misbah-ul-Haq’s 21-ball Test record.
Ben Duckett (25 off 16) was certainly a supporting player for the captain, but he also contributed with four quick boundaries in Holder’s first over before Stokes struck the deciding blow.
England vs West Indies Test series
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