England pulled off a surprisingly easy victory over the West Indies on the fourth day of the second Test, after three and half days of riveting Test cricket action that seesawed back and forth. (More Cricket News)
This was a classical, high-scoring Test match, with three scores of over 400 runs by the two teams in the first three innings, a feat not often seen in Tests played in England, and seemed comfortably heading into a fifth day with West Indies chasing an apparently gettable 385, given their first innings batting display. They got off to a great start at 61 without loss, with both openers looking solid.
It then all fell apart and before the Caribbean cricketers could even realise what was happening, the game was gone, ending well before the close of play on the fourth evening, something that had looked impossible when Kraigg Braithwaite and Mikyle Louis were looking so good at the top of the order.
The match proved once again that in Test cricket, you have to be at the top of your game consistently, be at your best for long periods to win - and despite being good for three, or even four days, it can all be taken away when you have one bad session.
Unpredictable things begin to happen, and even the most mundane of days suddenly comes to life as the batters start to jump around and balls fly off the wicket with alarming pace and bounce.
Rewards by way of wickets however, didn’t really come about for Wood in this Test even as he redefined pace bowling in England, known more for medium pacers who move the ball in helpful conditions, with his fire breathing thunderbolts.
Given that he bowled at average speeds of 93 mph or 150 kph throughout the game, he just picked up 2 for 85 in the match, with his sole first innings wicket being that of the West Indies No. 11, in the 112th over of the innings.
He bowled at a record-breaking average of 94.57 mph in his first over of the first innings, and surpassed that in his third, touching 97.1mph with his fifth delivery, the fastest ever bowled by an English fast bowler, which probably shows that you don’t necessarily pick up wickets with pace, or the short ball, for that matter.
And even though he did exceptionally well, beating the outside edge time and again, wickets eluded him in this game. And when he did find the outside edge in the second innings, Joe Root, England’s best slip fielder, put down a fairly regulation slips catch.
His pace, however, certainly helped to get wickets for bowlers at the other end.
And his skipper Ben Stokes acknowledged this when he said “Woody could have been man of the match with the way he bowled. Somebody will pay this summer! He’s got the heart of a lion, his pace is phenomenal and he’s got so much skill.”
And West Indies, chasing 385 in the fourth innings, slid into oblivion from a fine opening stand that got them to 61 for no loss, before collapsing abjectly to 91 for 6.
Young Shoaib Bashir, with his fluid, high-arm action, picked up 3 for 8 in no time as he varied his flight, with the ball turning and bouncing.
From not getting a bowl in the one-sided first Test match, and forgettable figures of 2 for 108 in the first innings of the second, there he was, making things happen on a fourth day wicket for England, just when the West Indies openers were looking solid and at ease, with skipper Kraigg Braithwaite particularly, playing some attractive shots.
Gus Atkinson, with 12 wickets on debut in the last test match, went for 2 for 107 in the first innings and was still wicketless at 112 for 6 in the second.
And then, in one eventful over, he had picked up two wickets in three balls, as 112 for six became 113 for eight. Former skipper Jason Holder, after a good outing in the first innings, was the only one who provided any resistance, as he looked good for his 37 in the second, hitting Bashir for two beautiful sixes over long off, following up the second six with a boundary.
However, Bashir had the last laugh, bowling him with a beautiful delivery that hit the top of the off stump as he picked up 5 for 41, a fifer by a spinner for the first time in 18 years at Trent Bridge.
He was in august company because, this was a feat last achieved by the great Mutthaiah Murlidharan in 2006. He ran through the side in the fourth innings, as spinners are traditionally expected to do, and in that sense, this Test match was a throwback to the olden days.
And “Joe Root was Joe Root” as Stokes described him at the post match interview, flowing along to his 32nd Test Hundred, a statistic that surely puts him right up there with the all-time greats.
Keeping him company was young Harry Brook, who made his first century on English soil, to signal the arrival of a worthy successor as both batted together attractively, and saw England to calm waters, after they had lost three quick wickets in the second innings.
And a Test Match with three 400-plus scores including three centuries and two excellent 80s from Joshua Da Silva and Alick Athanaze respectively for West Indies, ended unexpectedly on the fourth evening itself as they,after having done so well over the first three days, had another one of their sensational, by-now familiar batting collapses, to end up with just 143 in the fourth innings.
But surely there were a host of positive to take away for them in the performance of their young batters in the first innings, and they can still look forward with hope to the Third Test Match at Edgbaston, starting on Friday, 26th July.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author. The author is a veteran Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force, who has played Ranji Trophy for Services.
