England defeated West Indies in the third Test by 269 runs to retain the Wisden Trophy. England made a solid comeback after losing the first Test in Southampton by 5-wickets. They won the remaining two matches in Manchester to ruin West Indies’ hopes to win the Test series in England. With this win, England has claimed 80 points from the series in the World Test Championship.
A fitting end as @StuartBroad8 takes the wicket that secures a 2-1 series victory! 🙌
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/pvF725h1lc#ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/QLrRqPEThZ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 28, 2020
After the abandoned 4th day, the match started on time on the 5th day and West Indies were struggling on 10/2. With picking opener Kraig Brathwaite, Stuart Broad become the 7th bowler overall, fourth fast-bowler, and second English player to pick 500 wickets in Test cricket. The 34-year-old bowler put a remarkable bowling show in the last two Tests after the omission from the first Test.
The rain stopped the play when West Indies were struggling at 81/5 and umpires took early lunch. The game started and Chase got out in the 3rd over to Woakes. Rain again played a spoilsport but England picked remaining wickets to bowl them out on just 129. Man of the Match Broad picked 4 wickets in the 2nd innings to completed 10 wickets haul in the Test. Chris Woakes bagged 5-wickets to shatter West Indian batting unit.
In first innings, Olli Pope and Butler’s 140-runs stand pushed England towards a big total but a batting collapsed read the score from 262/4 to 280/8 but Broad put a quick 76-runs partnership with Bess to help England to finish on 369. On a challenging track, Broad tested the West Indies batting unit and the surface predominantly seemed to have rendered them docile. Broad’s 6 wickets rattled the West Indies and they bowled out on 197, providing 172 runs lead to England.
In 2nd innings, England openers took this game away from the Windies by putting 114 runs stand. Burns continued his top form with scoring 90 and Joe Root contributed 68 off just 56 balls to push the score forward. After declaring on 226, England called West Indies to chase 399 in 4th innings to win the series but it seemed like a far-fetched thought for Windies and Broad trapped two wickets in the last hour of the 3rd day to reach 499 Test wickets. West Indies was tottering against English attack and on the final day, even rain couldn’t save them to suffer 2-1 series loss.
Earlier, it was Ben Stokes who become the lifeline for England in do and die game in the 2nd Test. Broad picked 3-wickets in both innings to ensure the win. Stokes ended as the leading run-scorer with 343 runs and Broad ended the series as the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets. England will now face Pakistan next month in the 3-matches Test series in Manchester and Southampton.
