Windies stun England

Windies stun England

Shai Hope stars with the bat as West Indies pull of a stunning 5-wicket win over England in the 2nd Test at Headingley, Leeds.

Having comprehensively beaten the West Indies by 209 runs in the first day/night test in England at Edgbaston, most cricket fans especially in England were hoping to see the team wrap up the series at Headingly.

The West Indies on the other hand had other ideas, especially having played so poorly in the first test.

When new England skipper Joe Root won the toss and chose to bat on a cloudy Friday morning and a reasonably flat pitch, most people especially England fans were expecting a huge first innings total on the board.

But it was not to be as England were skittled out for a below par first innings score of 258 due to some terrific bowling from the West Indies, especially their new ball bowlers Kemar Roach who achieved figures of 4-51 and Shannon Gabriel who took 4-51.

All-rounder Ben Stokes was the only light to shine in England’s first innings scoring a century of 188 balls along with a handy knock from Root who scored 59 of 188.

At the start of West Indies first innings, England’s leading wicket taker James Anderson got England off to a good start by taking 3 early wickets for 24 runs, leaving the score at 35 for 3.

It was then up to Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope to dig the West Indies out of trouble and they did so with a partnership of 246 runs. Shai Hope was the star of the innings scoring 147 of 343 balls along with Brathwaite who got 134 of 249 balls. 

It was a demoralising time for England in the field, especially when ex-England skipper Alistair Cook dropped Hope early in his innings at first slip of the bowling of Stuart Broad.

This was the turning point in the match for the West indies who made England pay for their missed opportunities in the field.   

In England’s second innings, Cook and Mark Stoneman got off to a solid start with an opening partnership of 58 runs of 21.5 overs before Cook was caught behind off West Indies keeper Shane Dowrich for 23 off 63. Stoneman was the next man to go when he chopped one onto his stumps after scoring his maiden test fifty from 124 balls.

Newcomer Tom Westley’s tough start to test cricket continued when he was once again caught behind of the bowling of West indies skipper Jason Holder.

Root, Dawid Malan, Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes were the main contributors in England’s second innings with scores of 72, 61, 58, 84 and 61. This set up a target of 321 for West Indies to chase down.

In their quest to chase down these runs, the West Indies got off to a solid start with an opening partnership of 41 runs between Brathwaite and Kieron Powell.  England’s second highest wicket-taker Stuart Broad picked up the first wicket of Kieron Powell who was caught at gully by Stokes.

Four overs later, Kyle Hope was the next man to go where he was run out by Broad for a duck.

Once again it was then down to the two centurions from the first innings to dig the West Indies out of trouble, and they did so with a partnership of 144 runs in 40.3 overs.

England were desperate for a breakthrough, so Root turned to Moeen Ali and he did not let him down by removing Brathwaite who was looking to drive against the spin and ended up edging the ball to Stokes at first slip.

Roston Chase was the next man in and looked solid for his 75-ball 30 before being brilliantly caught at mid on by substitute fielder Mason Crane of the bowling of Woakes.

With the West Indies inching ever so near Jermaine Blackwood looked like he was on a mission to quickly finish of the game for the West Indies.

He certainly looked as if he was doing so with his blistering 41of 45 balls but ended up going for one to many high-risk shots and was therefore stumped by Johnny Bairstow of the bowling of Ali.

However, just like the first innings, Shai Hope showed his composure and finished off the game with a gutsy 118 not out.

For his magnificent display of batting for the West Indies, Hope was named man of the match.

Hope also became the first batsman from the West Indies to score a century in  both innings of first-class match at Headingley.

This also was the third highest run chase to be achieved in a test match in England.

So this means that the series is level at 1-1 as we head into the third test at Lords. Can England bounce back or are we in for another thrilling display from this young West Indies team?