Impending draw
At tea time on day four of the test match, Windies were sitting comfortably with 227 on board at the loss of 4 wickets, trailing by 242 runs, just 43 runs away from saving the follow-on. A tame draw was very much on the cards. However the second new ball turned the tide in England’s favour. Broad broke the 43 run partnership for 5th wicket by removing the well set Brooks (68 of 137) by his in-seamer that caught him plumb in front of the wickets. A similar delivery castled the hero of last match, Blackwood, for a duck. Next to fall was Dowrich, for another duck. In the space of 14 balls, Broad, who couldn’t find a place in the team the last test, had scalped three crucial wickets leaving West Indies reeling at 252/7. Chris Woakes finished off the remaining 3, but not before Chase (51) steered them past the follow-on mark. WI were bundled out for 287. This meant England would be effectively 182/0 at the start of their second innings.
England bats again
England made their intentions quite clear when they sent Stokes and Buttler to open. They wanted to get some quick runs to post a target that’s out of reach for Windies and then go for the kill. Initially it didn’t go as planned as Buttler played on a wide delivery from Roach, to his stumps before even opening his accounts. Crawley was also bowled by a beauty, Roach’s ball crashing through the gate. Once again it was Stokes who rose to the occasion and in the morning session of Day 5, played another gem of an innings, quite contrasting to his marathon 1st innings where it took him 255 balls to reach his century, to an eventual 176 off 356 balls. His brisk innings of 78(57) included 3 sixes and 4 boundaries. West Indies were set a target of 312 runs and had to see off a minimum of 85 overs remaining in the day’s play.
The fourth innings
England’s new ball pair of Broad and Woakes made early inroads and removed the top four of West Indies batting lineup quite cheaply. Broad took three of those, justifying his anger on his omission from the first test. West Indies were 4 down for 37 when Brooks and Blackwood joined hands for a formidable partnership. It appeared that they would deny England a well deserved win as together they had added 100 runs with both bringing up their individual half centuries as well. Root again put his trust on his
deputy Ben Stokes and he didn’t disappoint. Just at the stroke of tea, Blackwood couldn’t handle a sharp bouncer, bowled from round the stumps, and spooned it for Buttler to complete the formalities.
Post tea, Captain Holder forged a small partnership with Brooks before the latter was caught leg before, when a ball from Curran, bowled from round the stumps, jagged back in after pitching and caught Brooks on back-foot, in front of the stumps. Bess ended Holder’s resistance when he bowled him in a typical off spinner’s dismissal – sharp turn through the defense. WI found themselves 114 runs short of the target thereby the series being leveled at 1-1, with one more test to be played. Roach was the last wicket to fall, brilliantly caught by Pope at short leg of Bess’ bowling. Roach deflected the ball straight at him, he fumbled at first but put in a full length dive to complete the catch.
The Incredible Stokes
A player’s true worth can be gauged only at crucial times, when the team needed him the most, how many times did he respond. How many times could he deliver when put to task under pressure and how many times he brought his team to the brink of victory when it seemed impossible. Well, Mr Stokes proved his mettle not once but in all the four innings of the match- with bat, with ball and in the field as well. First he forged a mammoth 575-balls partnership of 260 runs with fellow centurion Sibley and top scored with a patient 176 on a tough wicket. Then he accounted for the most crucial wickets of West Indies in both innings- Brathwaite in first while Blackwood in second. Both times seamers were getting no help from the pitch or conditions, so he decided to put some extra effort, came round the wicket, bent his back and dug in short, one ball after the other till he got those breakthroughs. While setting the target for West Indies, he again played with aggression and put his team in a commanding position with a brisk half-century. He was the obvious choice for Man of the Match.