West Indies surrender Botham-Richards Trophy

NOTTINGHAM, England (CMC):

A STUNNING collapse in a nightmare final hour saw West Indies surrender the Richards-Botham Trophy with a demoralising 241-run defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge yesterday.

There was no sign of the carnage to come when West Indies, set an improbable 385 for victory, battled to 61 without loss at the end of the first hour, captain Kraigg Brathwaite (47) and opening partner Mikyle Louis (17) safely negotiating the new-ball barrage from England’s quicks.

However, once Louis nicked the first ball following the drinks break from seamer Chris Woakes (2-28) and was caught behind, West Indies lost 10 wickets for 82 runs to tumble to 142 all out, losing the Test with a day to spare to fall 2-0 behind in the three-Test series.

Twenty-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, in only his fifth Test, punished West Indies with a career-best five for 41, becoming the youngest-ever English bowler to take a five-wicket haul at home, while first Test hero Gus Atkinson supported with two for 49.

“A win was on our minds as a team but pretty much we lost all of our wickets in one session, so we know that was not good enough,” said Brathwaite.

“To be honest, the pitch was quite good today, so I felt as though it was still a good pitch. We just didn’t bat good enough.

“[I’m] disappointed because obviously, I knew we can do a lot better than we showed today. But the main thing is to learn from it. It’s gone, it’s history, we can’t bring it back.”

Resuming the fourth morning in control at 248 for three in their second innings, England consolidated their advantage before being dismissed on the stroke of tea for 425, thanks to former captain Joe Root’s 122 and Harry Brook’s 109 – the pair extending their fourth-wicket stand to 189 before being separated.

Seales was West Indies’ best bowler with four for 97.

Tasked with overhauling a challenging total in the last four sessions of the contest, West Indies looked set to comfortably push the game into Monday’s final day when Brathwaite and Louis carefully crafted the foundations of the chase in an intelligent half-century opening stand.

Louis’s demise, however, opened the floodgates for England in the final hour.

The final Test bowls off at Edgbaston next Friday.