Wisden Trophy Test Series
West Indies Vs England Third Test Played at Emirates Stadium, Old Trafford Manchester (24-28 July, 2020)
Brief Scorecard
England 1st Innings 369 All Out (OJ Pope 91, JC Buttler 67, SCJ Broad 62, RJ Burns 57 KAJ Roach 4/72, RL Chase 2/32, ST Gabriel 2/77) and 2nd Innings 226/2 declared (RJ Burns 90, DP Sibley, JE Root 68*, Holder 1/24, R Chase 1/61)
West Indies 1st Innings 197 All Out.(JO Holder 46, SO Dowrich 37, JD Campbell 32, JC Blackwood 26, JM Anderson 2/28, SCJ Broad 6/31, C Woakes 1/57, J Archer 1/72) and 2nd Innings 119 All out (SD Hope 31, J Blackwood 23, SSJ Brooks 22, CR Woakes 5/50, SCJ Broad 4/36)
England won the test by 269 Runs, won The series 2-1.
Man Of The Match: Stuart Broad (Scored 62 runs in the First Innings and 10 wickets in the match for 67 runs)
Man of The series: Stuart Broad and Roston Chase
Finally vastly superior quality England blew away West Indies in the series deciding third test at Emirates Stadium Old Trafford Manchester winning by huge margin of 269 runs. This win deservedly earned England series win by 2-1 and winning back the Wisden trophy which they conceded by identical margin in the last series played in the Caribbean Islands.
West Indies with much limited resources did whatever best they could do turning table on the favorites in the first match at Rose Bowl Southampton by 4 wickets. England bounced back in the second test at Old Trafford winning by 113 runs. Never before in the history of the test match three back to back tests were played within such a limited space of time. Never before also test cricket was played in empty stadium where only spectators were reserve players, grounds men, commentary teams and match officials. All these were done complying with Bio Security Protocol for COVID-19 pandemic.
Going by the relative strength of the teams, forms, fitness and ranking we do not think West Indies did all that bad. Winning the first test was itself a great achievement. They also looked competitive till a ceratin stage of the second test even. But unlike England they possibly lacked resources to rotate their bowlers. The team failed to perform consistently and batting could not absorb the pressure created by high quality English attack on helpful English bowling condition.
Going by the records Stuart Broad rested in the first test made huge difference bowling England to victories in both the second and the third test. His 10/ 67 match figure in the third test and 62 runs cameo innings in 45 deliveries in the first innings turned the tide for his team. He won man of match and joint man of the series with Roston Chase of West Indies. Broad also entered the elite club of 500 wickets as only the 7th bowler of test history. His proud father Chris Broad witnessed the glorious achievement of his son sitting as ICC match referee for the series.
The fate of the third test and the series was well laid out on day three when England declared the innings closed at 226/2 setting a near impossible target of 399 for West Indies to chase over two days and a bit. West Indies in 6 remaining overs was reduced to 10/2. The fourth day was completely rained out creating agonies to English prospect of winning the series and recovering the Wisden Trophy.
We thought tired and low spirit West Indies would show some fight . There was no real venom in the wicket though sky was overcast and there was occasional drizzle. But West Indies looked pretty ordinary. Broad made early inroads on day five trapping Brathwaite LBW. The ball kept very low. That was his 500th test wicket. He got another wicket to make it 10 /67 in the match. Chris Woakes cherishing the condition exploited the weakness the West Indian batting taking 5/50. England won huge and handsome by 269 runs. England won the series 2-1.
Unfortunately none of the West Indies batsmen showed any willingness to fight. Perhaps the very hectic tour took heavy toll on their physical and mental state. The situation was such that even playing a third innings West Indies was not in a position to overhaul the deficit. West Indies board must do extensive soul searching. Their bowling has huge resources but batting is very thin. They need some solid batsman of sound technique and skill for playing longer innings if they want to win test matches consistently.
England will now play ODI series against Ireland and then another Test series against much stronger Pakistan.
BDST: 1239 HRS, JUL 29, 2020
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