Mark Wood (5-40) takes five wickets for nine runs in six-over spell after lunch before captain Ben Stokes smashes England's fastest-ever Test fifty off 24 balls as hosts chase 82 in just 7.2 overs; watch all 68 games in The Hundred live on Sky Sports Cricket
Sunday 28 July 2024 23:55, UK
Mark Wood took the final five West Indies wickets in a devastating spell of fast bowling before Ben Stokes struck an England Test-record 24-ball fifty as his side raced to a 10-wicket win at Edgbaston to clinch a 3-0 series sweep.
Wood (5-40) bowled without luck to start day three, but returned after lunch to take five wickets for just nine runs in the space of six overs - Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales seeing their stumps sent cartwheeling out of the ground.
Mikyle Louis (57) and Kavem Hodge (55) had earlier shown a fair bit of fight with battling half-centuries - a first in Test cricket for the former - as the West Indies earned a slender lead.
But England captain Ben Stokes made light work of knocking off the 82 required as he filled in at the top of the order for Zak Crawley, absent while getting his right index finger scanned after injuring it in the morning session.
Stokes (55no off 28 balls) smashed nine boundaries and two sixes in scoring the fastest-ever Test fifty for England - breaking Sir Ian Botham's previous 28-ball best - as the hosts reached their target in just 7.2 overs to clinch a series whitewash in the most spectacular fashion.
West Indies resumed the day 33-2 in their second innings, still some 61 runs in arrears, and England swiftly strengthened their position with the wicket of Alick Athanaze (12) in the seventh over, out lbw to Shoaib Bashir (1-41) shortly after he was dropped by Harry Brook off Wood the over before.
Hodge was then also put down, first ball, as another hugely tough chance burst past the outstretched left hand of Joe Root at slip.
Hodge made the most of his reprieve, throwing a few counter punches to see the West Indies into a lead. Louis too began to free his arms, bringing up his maiden Test fifty with the first of two glorious straight sixes off Bashir.
But, just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, Stokes (1-42) provided the breakthrough by tempting Louis into a routine nick behind to Jamie Smith.
Crawley sustained his injury when dropping Jason Holder on 12 at second slip, but the error would not cost England as Gus Atkinson (2-28) got his man in the very next over without adding to his score - the former West Indies captain a touch unfortunate to see 'umpire's call' go against him on a marginal lbw decision that was just clipping leg stump.
Hodge had brought up an enterprising 56-ball half-century the ball before, but he was kept to only three runs from 18 deliveries after lunch as he was both starved of the strike and found scoring infinitely tougher in the midst of Wood's match-winning spell.
With the ball reverse-swinging, Wood first trapped the dogged Joshua Da Silva (5) lbw, before bowling Alzarri (2) with a brutal, toe-crusher of a yorker that took out his middle stump.
Quick as a flash, the West Indies innings was then ended with three wickets in an over as Hodge nicked off and then Seales (0) saw his off stump flattened and Shamar Joseph (4) thick-edged a drive to Brook.
A mere 7.2 overs later, the match was over courtesy of Stokes' 24-ball fifty that briefly threatened to break former Pakistan batter Misbah-ul-Haq's 21-ball Test record.
Ben Duckett (25no off 16) certainly played second fiddle to his skipper, but contributed a flurry of four boundaries in one Holder over before Stokes fittingly hit the winning runs with a second six struck over deep square-leg.
England captain Ben Stokes:
"The rewards that he got I think was later than he actually deserved to get them. The effort that he always puts in when he wears his England shirt is just phenomenal.
"He's got the heart of a lion and that little sort of 45 minutes or an hour period when he had the ball is exactly what you want as a captain.
"Fast, extremely skilful, and he really blew the game open there for us... he was just phenomenal.
"It felt like he was going to take a wicket every ball. Obviously, when the balls reverse swinging at 93mph, it's definitely going to be a lot harder.
"He's very, very important. The skill that he possesses, the X factor he has, every team wants one of those and he showed why it's so important today."
Player of the Match, England fast bowler Mark Wood:
"Speaking to the management at lunchtime, I was pretty down on my myself and frustrated, but Jimmy [Anderson] gave me a great chat, telling me to focus on the skill side of things and moving the ball, rather than the outcome, and I really feel like that is what I tried to do.
"That first wicket gave me a lot of confidence and from there it just started to fly.
"My role is to bowl fast and that's what Stokesy wants me to do and I'm proud of that role.
"Over the years my speed has been a bit up and down with injury but I've managed to maintain it these games and hopefully I can continue that into the summer."
Sky Sports will show all 68 games in The Hundred live, while you can also watch selected matches via free streams on Sky Sports' digital platforms and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
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