HOPE AND GLORY West Indies pull off miracle win to leave Root reeling
West Indies were pinching themselves in Leeds last night after shai Hope inspired them to one of the most astonishing wins in test history over a shellshocked england.
set 322 to win, the tourists — who had been thrashed in three days in the first test at edgbaston — knocked off the runs for the loss of only five wickets.
Hope added an unbeaten 118 to his first- innings 147 to become the first player ever to score twin hundreds in the same first-class game at Headingley and set up a decider at Lord’s next week.
He said he was ‘elated’, adding: ‘someone had to do it and I just put my hand up. We knew we needed to stand up.’
If West Indies can win the third test, it will cap a remarkable fightback after they lost 19 wickets in a day at edgbaston.
But england captain Joe Root insisted he will not shy away from aggressive declarations in the future after calling a halt to his side’s second innings on the fourth evening.
‘I thought we were in a position where we could win the game,’ he said of his declaration. ‘It was a fifth-day wicket. Maybe I slightly misread it, but we had two guys with
nearly 900 wickets between them bowling.’
Root insisted his side’s problems stemmed from a poor performance with the bat in the first innings, when England were dismissed for 258 after winning the toss.
‘It was a great Test match, but it wasn’t great to be a part of and to be on the losing side.
‘Shai played exceptionally well against high- quality bowling on a worn wicket. It didn’t surprise me — we know they’re a talented alented side and at no point weree we complacent.’
Root also knows his s team’s first- innings s performance was well below par against a side who had been ridiculed after their innings defeat in Birmingham.
‘To be brutally honest,t, we were not as good overver the first two days as wee can be,’ he said. ‘To bat first andd makek the total we did — that was nowhere near what we’re capable of. Any time you don’t get 300 having won the toss and batted, you’re disappointed.
‘It was pleasing that we fought back to get into a position where we could declare, but it was very frustrating that we couldn’t take the 10 wickets that we needed on the last day.’
Asked whether he could have gone on the defensive on the final day as West Indies neared their target, Root said: ‘I thought the best chance of slowing things down was to take wickets. That was the best way of getting a result out of the fixture.
‘It would have been very easy to set a 7-2 field and try to go at two an over, but we wanted to take the positive option.’
West Indies coach Stuart Law was delighted for his captain Jason Holder, who came in for serious criticism after the first Test.
‘He cops a lot from external areas,’ said Law. ‘ But to get a win in England is a tremendous effort and we’re not bothered what others think. We’re a work in progress and we move on to Lord’s.
‘After getting the kicking we did at Edgbaston, to get the boys back up to achievachieve what they’ve done these last five days, it’s a great effoeffort — not just by the plaplayers themselves but all ththe support staff.
‘I’m very proud of them aand of the two young gguys who scored the rruns. I said if Shai gets onone hundred, he’ll get pleplenty — well, he got one and he’s got another. ‘He’He’s been going through the form dip but he’s looked in good nick. Hopefully now the pretty 20s are gone and the pretty 120s are here to stay.’
On Kraigg Brathwaite, who scored a century and 95 in the match, Law added: ‘He’s not the most fashionablelooking cricketer but he gets the job done and he’s one of my first picks every game.’
Match-winner Hope said: ‘I was sure if I was there at the end, the century would come. We fought really hard, we knew we needed this win to keep alive the series. I’m elated, we’ve worked hard as a team.’
The defeat will come as a huge blow to England who now have only one Test — the final game of this series at Lord’s on September 7 — before contesting the Ashes in Australia this winter.