England win the Wisden Trophy- England vs West Indies, Test 3, Day 5
The West Indian pair of Brathwaite and Hope walked to the crease with their team 10-2 and 389 behind England.
The pair started well on the final day the Test. Both were leaving the ball well and when the opportunity came driving the ball to the boundary.
The England bowlers were beating the outside on a couple of occasions but posed little threat to the West Indian batsman.
Broads began to probe the batsman and eventually got his wicket. Broad trapped Brathwaite on the crease and hit his pads in front of middle stump. This wicket brought up Broad’s 500th wicket in Test cricket, Brathwaite was both Anderson and Broad’s 500th wicket. The Nottinghamshire man joined an illustrious club of all-time greats, including James Anderson, Courtney Walsh and Shane Warne.
Chris Woakes soon got England’s second wicket of the session. Shai Hope who had been playing nicely and controlled. In a moment of rashness Hope hit the ball high off the toe end of his bat. Broad came in and took the catch and Hope was dismissed for 31 after a good start which he failed to capitalise on.
Hope needed to make a decent score in this innings as he has failed to make many runs this series. He has been unable to find any form throughout this series, with his place being brought into question. A promising young player that simply failed to find his feet in this three-match series.
Woakes soon struck again. The ball seemed back into Brooks and caught the inside edge of his bat. He feathered it through to Buttler and was dismissed for 22. Another West Indian batsman made a start but failed to capitalise.
England continued to apply pressure to the West Indian batting line-up after lunch. A muddle and indecisive run led to Roston Chase being ran out. The ball was knocked into offside, Dom Bess quickly picked up the ball one handed and hit the stumps directly. Chase was dismissed for 7.
Shortly after the run out, Chris Woakes struck again. The Warwickshire man hit Jason Holder’s pads and was given out immediately. Holder reviewed the decision, but decision was upheld with Hawkeye showing it was hitting the middle of leg stump.
Woakes then struck again and got his fourth and fifth wicket of the session. He first hit the pads of Dowrich who was given out for lbw and was out for 8. A Chris Woakes delivery then crashed into the pads of Rakeem Cornwall who was given out lbw for 9.
The Warwickshire man has dominated day five in the final Test with his five-wicket haul. He has been persistent in his line and length which has consistently troubled the West Indian batsman.
Broad took the final wicket of the match, a ball down the leg slide took a slight nick off of Blackwood’s bat and was acrobatically caught by Jos Buttler. This wicket saw Broad take 10 wickets in the Test. He finished with figures of 6-31 in the first innings and 4-36 in the second innings.
The West Indies were bowled out for 129, which secured the victory for England. The hosts won by 269. With this victory they won the series and claimed the Wisden Trophy.
Review:
England dominated the Test match and, in the end, won the series comfortably. The England bowling attack took firm control of the match. Stuart Broad dominated in the first innings and Broad and Woakes dominated in the second.
In truth, this was a magical Test match that belonged to Stuart Broad. In the final decisive Test match, Stuart Broad showed his class. The line and length that he bowled allowed him to constantly threaten the West Indian batsman. He constantly beat the outside edge and made it difficult to score. Broad finished with a 10-wicket haul and claimed his 500th Test wicket, this Test match that allowed him to cement himself and an all-time great.
Broad did not simply impact the game with his bowling, his 62 in the first innings took the game away from the West Indies. On top of his fantastic performance, Stuart Broad was given England’s Raise The Bat Player of the Series Award.
England put on a much better display in the final two Test matches than they did in the first match of the series. England managed to put runs on the board. The England batsman performed well and batsman such as Sibley, Burns and Pope managed to score much needed runs. Their runs throughout the final two Tests allowed England to put runs on the board and gave the bowlers a target to bowl at.
England put in a much better team performance over the past two Test matches. England must now continue this momentum into the series with Pakistan. This will be another stern test in which England will have to get the selection right in order to win the series.
