England triumph by 241 runs on day four in Nottingham after bowling West Indies out for 143 in their second innings; watch the final Test of the series at Edgbaston live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Friday July 26 (first ball 11am)
Monday 22 July 2024 06:14, UK
Shoaib Bashir became the first spinner since 2006 to take five wickets in a Test at Trent Bridge as England sealed a match and series victory by beating West Indies by 241 runs on day four of the second Test.
Harry Brook capped a dominant opening hour for the hosts with his first Test century in England, but his departure shortly before lunch was the first of three wickets to fall in the morning session to leave the outcome still in the balance despite the lead being over 300 runs at the time.
But Joe Root, who now sits eighth on the all-time Test run-scorers list, held firm to make 122 before being dismissed midway through the afternoon session, with England eventually bowled out for 425 and setting West Indies a victory target of 385.
However, the tourists never recovered from slumping from 61-0 to 82-5 as Bashir and Chris Woakes got stuck into the top order, and the 20-year-old off-spinner finished with figures of 5-41 as England skittled West Indies for 143 to claim the Richards-Botham Trophy by going 2-0 up in the three-match series.
Brook and Root carried on where they had left off the previous evening in the first session, with the former reaching 100 for the fifth time in Tests and the first time in a home match off a single in the 62nd over, his previous four tons having come in either Pakistan or New Zealand.
Root's flick into the leg side for two off the next delivery then brought up his 63rd Test half-century and took the Yorkshire duo's fourth-wicket stand past 150, and they would add a further 39 runs between them before the partnership was finally broken.
It was Jayden Seales who got the crucial wicket with around half an hour to go until lunch, with Brook prodding his bat at one which moved away from him and edging to wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva to depart for 109 in the 69th over.
Seales accounted for Ben Stokes five overs later as well, the England captain making just eight before being caught hooking on the boundary by Alzarri Joseph, and spinner Kevin Sinclair had Jamie Smith (7) caught behind by Da Silva from a slight nick with the last ball before lunch.
Root steadied the ship after the restart as England resumed on 348-6 and brought up his 32nd Test century in style by hammering four through the covers in the 84th over, although Woakes (12) had departed when he edged Shamar Joseph to Jason Holder three overs after the new ball was taken.
Gus Atkinson helped Root take England's lead past 350 and their innings total past 400 - the first time in history England had gone past that tally in both innings of the same Test - but Root was eventually dismissed in the 90th over when he found Kirk McKenzie at extra cover off the first ball of Holder's return to the attack.
Seales, the pick of West Indies' bowlers with 4-97, accounted for Mark Wood, who was bowled after he and Atkinson had been dropped in the slips from successive deliveries, and last man in Bashir without troubling the scorers to bring about the end of England's innings.
That left West Indies facing a record target, with no team having previously chased down more than 299 for victory in a Test at Trent Bridge, but a half-century opening stand between captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis got them off to a strong start.
It marked the first time since 1990 the West Indies openers had put on a 50 partnership in both innings of a Test in England, although it was ended on 61 when Woakes got Louis to edge through to wicketkeeper Smith in the first over after the drinks break.
Spinner Bashir got in on the act the very next over as new batter McKenzie was back in the pavilion for just one after an inside edge to Smith, who gobbled up a third catch when Brathwaite flicked one behind him off Woakes in the 16th over, three short of his half-century.
Bashir then reduced West Indies to 82-5 after trapping first-innings centurion Kavem Hodge lbw with just the fourth ball he had faced and doing for another of the first-innings stars, Alick Athanaze, after he prodded to slip-fielder Root when coming around the wicket to the left-hander.
The express pace of Wood accounted for Sinclair (1) in the 24th over as he gloved a rising short ball to Zak Crawley and that was followed by fellow seamer Atkinson trapping Da Silva lbw for 14 and bowling Alzarri Joseph for a duck.
Former captain Holder dug in with an entertaining 37-run cameo, which included two sixes, but he was bowled by Bashir and Shamar Joseph's (8) demise in the same manner wrapped up the win, along with seeing the right-armer become the first slow bowler since Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan to take a Test five-for in Nottingham.
Player-of-the-match Ollie Pope, who made scores of 121 and 51 at Trent Bridge:
"I have been putting some hard work into my game and feel really good about where it is at. That gives me confidence and I am happy with how I have played. Hopefully that can continue."
England captain Ben Stokes:
"The comeback after West Indies' opening partnership was quite remarkable and Bash [Shoaib Bashir] showed the world what he is about.
"On a wicket that has not necessarily offered a lot for the spinners in the game, the ability he had to change his pace, change his line, manipulate how he wanted the ball to react out of the surface, was top class.
"Those conditions, on Saturday evening, were the toughest to bat in during the Test. The ball started to swing.
"The way they [Joe Root and Harry Brook] got through that and put pressure back on West Indies' bowlers was top class.
"We could have got a few more runs in the first innings if we are brutally honest but you have to give credit to the team for how they have performed in the game."
West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite:
"I am decently happy [with the fight shown]. I thought we could have been better with the ball. The fitness is there with the ball. We just have to be more disciplined.
"England showed us how to bowl and not get hit square of the wicket, but the guys will learn. You just have to stay mentally tough.
"We were good with the bat in the first innings but didn't follow it up in the second innings. We didn't have a good all-round performance at all, apart from the first batting innings."
Watch the first day of the third Test between England and West Indies, from Edgbaston, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Friday July 26 (first ball to be bowled at 11am).
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