BIRMINGHAM: England were in a commanding position as they took a 94-run first innings lead over the West Indies and then had the tourists 33-2 at stumps on the second day of the third and final Test at Edgbaston on Saturday.

England, 38-3 overnight, scored 376 before making inroads into the West Indies top order with the wickets of captain Kraigg Brathwaite and the struggling Kirk McKenzie in the last 80 minutes of play.

Mikyle Louis (18 not out) and Alick Athanaze unbeaten on five, will resume the West Indies second innings on Sunday, with the tourists trailing by 61 runs.

England took six balls to make a breakthrough with Chris Woakes bowling Brathwaite without scoring while McKenzie’s poor form continued as he was caught behind off Gus Atkinson for eight.

Earlier, Jamie Smith and Joe Root both fell agonisingly short of a Test century while Ben Stokes and Woakes also scored half-centuries on a day that started poorly for England but which they quickly turned around to dominate as they look for a clean sweep of the series.

Smith was bowled five runs short of a maiden Test ton while Root scored 87 as England fought back from 54-5 to move ahead of the Windies’ first innings total of 282.

The 24-year-old Smith, playing his third Test, looked a consummate veteran with an array of attacking shots as he sped towards the milestone, only to be undone by an off cutter from Shamar Joseph that stayed low and took out his stumps.

The unfortunate Smith took 109 balls to score his 95, helping England to move past the West Indies score and begin to build up a useful lead.

Smith came in after Root and skipper Stokes put on a 115-run sixth wicket partnership that hauled England back from a precarious position after they lost two early wickets.

Stokes was dismissed for 54 in the third over after lunch, caught by Brathwaite off Alzarri Joseph, his 100th Test wicket, after a miscued pull from the skipper, offering an easy catch to square leg, Smith and Root then added 62 runs for the seventh wicket, with their partnership ended when Root was trapped leg before wicket by a ball that slid on from left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie.

Smith and Woakes continued the tempo, with Woakes scoring 62 on his home ground.

Alzarri Joseph was the best of the tourists bowlers with 4-122.

England have secured the series after convincingly winning the first two Tests, by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s and 241 runs at Trent Bridge.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 282 (K. Brathwaite 61, J. Holder 59; G. Atkinson 4-67, C. Woakes 3-69)

ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 38-3):

Z. Crawley c Holder b Seales 18

B. Duckett b A. Joseph 3

M. Wood c Holder b Seales 0

O. Pope b S. Joseph 10

J. Root lbw Motie 87

H. Brook c Da Silva b Seales 2

B. Stokes c Brathwaite b A. Joseph 54

J. Smith b S. Joseph 95

C. Woakes c Brathwaite b A. Joseph 62

G. Atkinson c Motie b A. Joseph 21

S. Bashir not out 0

EXTRAS (B-10, LB-10, NB-3, W-1) 24

TOTAL (all out, 75.4 overs) 376

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-29 (Crawley), 2-29 (Duckett), 3-31 (Wood), 4-51 (Pope), 5-54 (Brook), 6-169 (Stokes), 7-231 (Root), 8-337 (Smith), 9-363 (Woakes)

BOWLING: A. Joseph 17.4-2-122-4; Seales 19-1-79-3 (1w); S. Joseph 13-0-63-2 (3nb); Holder 7-0-31-0; Motie 19-2-61-1

WEST INDIES (2nd Innings):

K. Brathwaite b Woakes 0

M. Louis not out 18

K. McKenzie c Smith b Atkinson 8

A. Athanaze not out 5

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-1) 2

TOTAL (for two wickets, 14 overs) 33

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Brathwaite), 2-22 (McKenzie)

STILL TO BAT: K. Hodge, J. Holder, J. Da Silva, A. Joseph, G. Motie, S. Joseph, J. Seales

BOWLING: Woakes 4-2-8-1; Atkinson 4-0-16-1 (1nb); Bashir 3-1-2-0; Wood 3-1-6-0

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024