Wood reels West Indies with fifer
Mark Wood answered West Indian pace with fearsome heat of his own as the pacer claimed his first Test five-wicket innings and put England in control on the second day of the third and final Test in St Lucia on Sunday.
Playing his first match of the series, Wood tore through the heart of the home side’s batting to finish with five for 41 as the West Indies, replying to England’s first innings total of 277, crashed from 57 without loss in mid-afternoon to 154 all out an hour before the close of play.
A day which saw 16 wickets tumble ended with the tourists’ opening pair of Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings safely navigating ten overs to be 19 without loss at stumps, an overall lead of 142 runs going into day three as they seek the consolation of victory following heavy defeats in the first two matches of the series.
Wood’s raw speed unsettled the West Indies middle-order batsmen after Moeen Ali ended another half-century opening partnership by accounting for stand-in captain Kraigg Brathwaite and partner John Camp- bell off consecutive deliveries. Ali supported Wood’s hostility with subtle variations to finish with figures of four for 36.
However it was the introduction of Wood, who came on as the fourth bowler in the England armoury, which had the greatest impact on an eventful day.
He dismissed Shai Hope and Roston Chase off successive deliveries, both taken at gully, in his opening over and added the scalp of Shimron Hetmyer, caught at the second attempt by England captain Joe Root at first slip, off the final delivery of the afternoon session. Darren Bravo perished shortly aft er t he resumption to another Root slip catch and Wood returned after some resistance from Shane Dowrich (38) to polish off the innings and complete the fivewicket haul when he yorked last man Shannon Gabriel.
At t h e s t a r t o f t h e d a y , England’s batsmen collapsed to the West Indian fast bowlers yet again as the visitors lost six wickets for 45 runs to be dismissed just before lunch.
Brief scores (Day 2, stumps): England 277 (B Stokes 79, J Buttler 67, K Roach 4/48) & 19/0 in 10 ovs. West Indies 154 all out in 47.2 ovs (M Wood 5/41, M Ali 4/36).
GROS-ISLET (SAINT LUCIA):