On a thrilling final day at Emirates Old Trafford, England levelled the series against West Indies. Like the opening game, this went beyond 6pm on day five and the right team won. Bring on Friday, when the teams meet here again.
This was a mighty fine win for England, the only sour note of which was Ben Stokes leaving the attack looking a little stiff with one wicket required. He stayed on the field, and victory was England’s a couple of overs later when Ollie Pope took a brilliant diving catch at short leg off Dom Bess.
At the start of the game, when they were 1-0 down in the series, stuck in under leaden skies and had an entirely changed seam attack because their star bowler had gone rogue en route from Southampton, there was the vague whiff of disarray in the air. They put that to bed with a performance of quality that defied a day lost to rain and a confident West Indies team.
The morning session could barely have gone better for England. They batted for 11 overs, maybe one or two more than expected, but still leaving plenty of time, 85 overs, to bowl West Indies out, with a second new ball available if they really needed it. West Indies, requiring 312, needed the innings of their life to chase the runs; they were batting for a draw, realistically.
England scored 92 in that time, with Stokes 78 not out from 57, supported by Joe Root and Ollie Pope, his runners. He whacked three sixes and four fours, moving past 250 runs for the match. Stokes was at the heart of the win, with three wickets only telling a fraction of the story when it comes to his bowling.
Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, so good on Sunday, wasted no time ripping through the top order. Broad had Campbell, who had dropped Stokes, caught behind driving wildly on review. Woakes pinned Brathwaite in front, then Broad bowled Hope with a nip-backer. Just after lunch, a similar ball did for Roston Chase, gone lbw shouldering arms.
There was always going to be one strong partnership. As Brooks and Blackwood both made half-centuries in a stand of exactly 100, minds began to wander back to the Ageas Bowl last Sunday, when England knocked over the top order promptly but could not finish the job. As then, England had their moments. Brooks gloved Woakes behind – via his arm – on 29, but they chose not to review. Woakes was made to wait for his 100th Test wicket, but not too long.
As so often, it was Stokes who found the ball to break the partnership in the nick of time. Leading up to tea, he had spent a few overs experimenting with leg theory from round the wicket. Neither batsman looked terribly comfortable, and were showing it in their desire to feast on Dom Bess.
In the final over before the break, Blackwood pushed down the ground, where no fielders were placed as England employed bodyline. Stokes turned and haired after the ball, but could not prevent it reaching the boundary or the batsmen running four. Never mind, he hared back to bang in another bouncer, which Blackwood tried to gently pull. He could only loop up a catch for the diving Jos Buttler.
England had their opening and, in the over after tea, Woakes had Dowrich lbw for a pair. It had taken Woakes 34 Tests to pair 100 wickets with 1,000 Test runs, which compares very favourably with some big names such as Jason Holder (39) and Andrew Flintoff (43).
Stokes continued until his spell was 11 overs long, the same length as his effort on Sunday. He was not gone for long, but while he was Sam Curran weaselled out Brooks with an lbw that it was surprising not to see sent upstairs. Curran has still not lost a home Test.
Saving the game was left to Jason Holder and the tail. The writing was on the wall. This was not always a simple game for the developing Dom Bess, but he bowled Holder through the gate, then when Alzarri Joseph prodded Stokes to point, it looked like the all-rounder was destined to take the final wicket. That fell to Bess, but there was no doubting who was man of the match.
