England Wrap up the Series with All-round Brilliance

The post-Anderson era began at Trent Bridge, where the West Indies were desperate to improve on their efforts at Lord’s – in truth, it would have been hard for them to do worse. Unsurprisingly, England made only one change to their line-up, with Mark Wood coming in for Jimmy Anderson – it was the first home Test since 2012 that neither Anderson nor Stuart Broad had played (though the latter had the honour of the Pavilion End being named after him at his home ground). For the West Indies, Kevin Sinclair replaced Gudakesh Motie, who was unwell, and when Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss he chose to field first, despite it looking perfect conditions for batting.

Third ball of the morning, from Alzarri Joseph, Alick Athanaze took an excellent low catch to remove Zak Crawley without scoring. If that suggested it was a good decision to bowl, when Ben Duckett sent his first four deliveries to the boundary, there were already signs that West Indies were going to have to work hard for their wickets. Amazingly, Duckett and Ollie Pope brought up their fifty partnership in 23 deliveries. Duckett’s fifty came up off a remarkable 32 balls – the joint third fastest fifty for England, despite the early loss of Crawley, beaten only by Ian Botham in 28 balls v India in Delhi in 1981 and Jonny Bairstow v New Zealand at Leeds in 2022. But neither of them was opening the innings. The hundred partnership was a bit slower, taking 105 balls, but still unrecognisable from a normal first session of a Test. Duckett had a chance to become the first England batter ever to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test, but Shamar Joseph induced a low edge to Jason Holder, and he fell for 71 off 59 deliveries. Just before lunch, Pope was dropped in the cordon and England went in at 134 for two.

Early in the afternoon Pope reached his fifty off 81 balls, but then Root played a poor shot and dollied one up to Alzarri Joseph at mid-on off Jayden Seales to fall for 14. Pope was given another life on 54 when Jason Holder couldn’t hold on to a regulation slip catch. Harry Brook came in and was quickly hitting it to all parts, but he too got lucky when he was dropped in the slips on 24, before he played one for six down to third man to bring up the fifty partnership off 41 balls. Brook tried to lap-sweep Sinclair, but got the toe-end of his bat instead and the ball looped up for a catch, which was celebrated in spectacular style. Pope then reached his sixth Test century off 143 balls. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes, who hasn’t scored many runs of late, took his time to get started. England went in at tea on 259 for four and, worryingly for the tourists, Shamar Joseph had hobbled off with an injury a few balls earlier.

Early in the evening, Stokes began to accelerate but Pope edged Alzarri Joseph to Kavem Hodge on 121. The England skipper brought up his fifty off 71 balls, a welcome landmark, but then gave his wicket away when he hit a long-hop from Hodge straight into the hands of deep mid-wicket to fall for 69: 342 for six. On the occasion of his 50th cap, Chris Woakes walked out to bat, joining Jamie Smith, who was again looking an excellent asset, but holed out to mid-on off Hodge on 36. Hodge then took a great catch at slip off Sinclair to account for Gus Atkinson. Wood survived an early stumping chance and was dropped in the gully, as West Indies continued to miss taking their opportunities. Seales found Woakes’s edge to remove him for 37, before Holder picked up a fourth catch to remove Shoaib Bashir and England were all out for 416.

After their poor efforts with the bat in the first Test, West Indies needed to do much better this time, with the attack now led by Woakes. Unsurprisingly, they were more circumspect than England had been, with the fifty opening partnership coming up after 89 balls. When Wood came on to bowl, his first delivery was 94 mph, and that first over he averaged 94.7 mph – the fastest over ever recorded by an England bowler. That record didn’t last long as his third over averaged 95 mph. But for all the physical threat of Wood, it was the spin of Bashir that struck first, as Mikyle Louis mistimed one that was superbly caught in the deep by Brook. Atkinson accounted for Brathwaite, on 48, with a bouncer that the skipper lobbed up to Pope at short square leg. Just before lunch, Kirk McKenzie was caught in two minds and then caught by Stokes off Bashir, and at the break it was 89 for three.

In the afternoon session, West Indies began making steady progress with Alick Athanaze and Hodge going to the fifty partnership off 94 balls, then Root put down a routine edge off Wood’s bowling to give Hodge a life on 16. It seemed to spark him into life, as the runs began to flow after that. Athanaze went to his maiden Test fifty in 67 balls, looking a fine prospect. The hundred partnership soon followed, off 140 balls, then Hodge reached his fifty, in 85 balls. England’s short-pitched attack wasn’t working, and at tea the West Indies were 212 for three, having scored 123 runs in the session.

The partnership went on past 150, with England struggling to control things, but then Stokes got Athanaze to flash at a wide one and Brook caught him out for 82: 259 for four. Hodge brought up his maiden Test hundred with a straight drive in just his fifth Test off 143 balls. Finally, Hodge was LBW to Woakes for 120, but when Wood pulled up, England must have feared the worst, as he had been the pick of the bowlers despite not taking a wicket. At the close, West Indies were 351 for five and were moving into a position where they think begin to think about taking the lead in the morning session of the third day.

The new morning began with overhead conditions giving the bowlers more hope, but not before Holder and Joshua Da Silva completed their fifty partnership off 63 balls. Soon after, Woakes found Holder’s edge, and it went through to Smith. Atkinson quickly accounted for Sinclair, well caught by Brook in gully. Alzarri Joseph stuck around for a while, but eventually edged one from Woakes to the keeper, then next ball Woakes beat Seales’s forward defence to bowl him, and it was 386 for nine. Shamar Joseph saw off the hat-trick ball, but few would have expected what followed as he and Da Silva gradually took control. Da Silva went to his fifty off 87 balls with an extraordinary six over cover. For only the fifth time in the last ten years, West Indies went past 400 in the first innings in an away Test, and then the No 11 drew the scores level with a huge pulled six into the stands. Shamar Joseph was having the time of his life – another six hit the roof, and the fifty partnership came up off 70 balls as England’s tactics and bowling became ragged. Finally the embarrassment came to an end when the deserving Wood removed Joseph, leaving Da Silva unbeaten on 82, as West Indies were all out for 457; the partnership of 71 was the second highest in history for West Indies against England. Woakes finished with four for 84, and England trailed by 41.

Crawley’s disappointing match was compounded when Duckett drilled one back down the pitch, and Seales got a fingertip to it, stranding Crawley at the non-striker’s end. Pope hit four boundaries off his first seven balls, as West Indies’ bowlers got off to a wayward start, and the fifty partnership took just 49 deliveries. Duckett’s fifty came up with a series of sweeps in 55 balls, before the hundred partnership was completed in 110 balls. Tea came soon after, with England on 116 for one after just 22 overs (none of them maidens), but the game was still in the balance.

Pope’s fifty arrived after 64 deliveries, and England piled on the pressure. A change of ball brought immediate relief, as Pope edged it to Sinclair off Alzarri Joseph to fall for 51. Soon after, Joseph picked up another with a Yorker that trapped Duckett in front on 76: 140 for three. This brought Brook out to join Root, and the two Yorkshiremen set about the attack, though not without some painful blows from the bowlers. Their fifty partnership took 71 balls to arrive, then Brook reached his fifty in 62 balls, before the hundred partnership came up in 132 balls. The day ended with England on 248 for three, leading by 207.

The fourth day began in excellent batting conditions, and few take advantage of those like Brook, who continued to score quickly, and reached his first century on home soil (but his fifth overall) in just 118 balls, then Root got to his fifty in 91 balls. Those runs also moved him up to eighth in the list of all-time highest runscorers, ahead of Shivnarine Chanderpaul (who was on 11,867). When the partnership reached 185, Root and Brook had set a new England fourth-wicket record at Trent Bridge. But they didn’t go much further, as Brook edged Seales to Da Silva and was out for an excellent 109; only Wally Hammond (1493) has scored more runs in their first 14 Tests for England than his 1376. Stokes holed out to fine leg off Seales on 8, then Smith edged Sinclair behind on 6, and that was 348 for six at lunch.

West Indies took the new ball as soon as it was available, in the hope they could prevent Root from scoring a century, but instead they induced Woakes to edge Shamar Joseph to Holder. Root’s 32nd hundred came from a glorious cover drive; it took him level with Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Steve Waugh and one behind Sir Alastair Cook, who has 33; it was his fifth at Trent Bridge (equalling Denis Compton and Mike Atherton) and his sixth v West Indies. When England reached 400, it was the first time they had ever done so twice in a match. Holder came back on and Root drilled one to shortish cover and was caught for 122 off 178 balls. The rest of the innings was wrapped up quickly, despite two drops in the slips in consecutive balls off Seales, who responded by splattering Wood’s stumps. Seales then finished it off by bowling straight and full to Bashir, who couldn’t keep it out, to give him figures of four for 97. England were all out for 425, leaving West Indies to chase 385. No Test side had ever successfully chased 300 at Trent Bridge, but this had been a match full of runs, so perhaps a new record could be set?

West Indies came out in the evening session knowing they needed to keep in the game up to the close. Although they got off to a decent start, the uneven bounce suggested this would be even more daunting than the statistics suggested. Brathwaite and Louis completed a fifty opening partnership in just 59 balls, but the extreme pace of Wood gave them a new challenge. A drinks break worked again, with Woakes inducing Louis to edge behind: 61 for one. When Bashir came on, he struck with just his third delivery as McKenzie got a bottom edge which Smith clung on to. Smith made it a hat-trick of catches when Brathwaite got a faint edge to a superb ball from Woakes. Hodge was quickly LBW for nought to give Bashir his second victim. In his third over, Bashir found the edge of Athanaze’s bat and Root held on. Sinclair couldn’t handle Wood’s pace and gloved one to Crawley: 91 for six.

Holder and Da Silva played some big shots, but the game was gone. Atkinson skidded one through and Da Silva could do nothing about it, trapped in front. Alzarri Joseph couldn’t even get his pads in the way of his second ball, as Atkinson was on target again. After having been hit for ten off two balls, Bashir responded by bowling Holder for 37 and followed it up by bowling Shamar Joseph to give him figures of five for 41 – his third five-wicket haul already, and he became the youngest England spinner to take five wickets in England. West Indies were all out for 143, losing by 241 runs. Pope was named Man of the Match, but this was a true all-round effort from the whole team.