NOTTINGHAM, England: A stunning collapse in a nightmare final hour saw West Indies surrender the Richards-Botham Trophy with a demoralising 241-run defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge here Sunday.
There was no sign of the carnage to come when West Indies, set an improbable 385 for victory, battled to 61 without loss at the end of the first hour, captain Kraigg Brathwaite (47) and opening partner Mikyle Louis (17) safely negotiating the new-ball barrage from England’s quicks.
However, once Louis nicked the first ball following the drinks break from seamer Chris Woakes (2-28) and was caught at the wicket, West Indies lost ten wickets for 82 runs to tumble to 142 all out, losing the Test with a day to spare to fall 2-0 behind in the three-Test series.
Twenty-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, in only his fifth Test, punished West Indies with a career-best five for 41, becoming the youngest-ever English bowler to take a five-wicket haul at home, while first Test hero Gus Atkinson supported with two for 49.
“A win was on our minds as a team but pretty much we lost all of our wickets in one session so we know that was not good enough,” said Brathwaite.
“To be honest, the pitch was quite good today so I felt as though it was still a good pitch. We just didn’t bat good enough.
“[I’m] disappointed because obviously I knew we can do a lot better than we showed today. But the main thing is to learn from it. It’s gone, it’s history, we can’t bring it back.”
[caption id="attachment_1097754" align="alignnone" width="1024"] West Indies Alzarri Joseph is bowled by England’s Gus Atkinson on the fourth day of the second Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Sunday. - AFP PHOTO[/caption]
Resuming the fourth morning in control at 248 for three in their second innings, England consolidated their advantage before being dismissed on the stroke of tea for 425, thanks to former captain Joe Root’s 122 and Harry Brook’s 109 – the pair extending their fourth wicket stand to 189 before being separated.
Root, who began the morning on 37, reached 81 not out at lunch, before going on to complete his 32nd Test hundred, facing 178 deliveries in just over five hours and counting 10 fours.
Brook, on 71 overnight, faced 132 balls in 188 minutes and struck 13 fours, before becoming the day’s first casualty, nicking behind off Seales who was West Indies’ best bowler with four for 97.
Root then took responsibility for the innings, putting on 30 for the seventh wicket with Woakes (12) and 41 for the eighth with Atkinson (21 not out) after lunch before he was eighth out, taken at short cover by Kirk McKenzie off medium pacer Jason Holder.
Seales finished off the innings quickly with the two final wickets as England lost their last three for just six runs.
Tasked with overhauling a challenging total in the last four sessions of the contest, West Indies looked set to comfortably push the game into Monday’s final day when Brathwaite and Louis carefully crafted the foundations of the chase in an intelligent half-century openi
