The Free Press Journal

COMING T20: ROHIT LIKELY TO BE RESTED

Root century anchors rampant visitors assault

- AGENCIES /

MUMBAI: Rohit Sharma may be rested for T20s, and there will be no experiment­s for ODIs when the national selection committee meet here on February 15, to pick the squad for five-match ODI series and two T20 internatio­nals against visitors Australia.

James Anderson was at his destructiv­e best in blowing away the West Indies top-order batting to put England on course for a massive victory at lunch on the fourth day of the third and final Test at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia on Tuesday.

Set the improbable target of 485 after Joe Root declared his side's second innings at 361 for five following his dismissal for 122, the home team crashed to 35 for four with the rampant Anderson taking the first three wickets. Mark Wood, whose raw pace earned him his first fivewicket innings haul in Tests on day two, added to that tally with the wicket of Shai Hope just before the interval to leave Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer with the task of bringing some respectabi­lity to a West Indian innings which seemed to be in freefall amid the carnage wreaked by Anderson. He triggered the West Indies slide with just the third delivery of the innings when John

Campbell, facing his first ball, sliced a booming drive to

Moeen Ali at gully.

Campbell's opening partner, Kraigg Brathwaite, seems doomed to suffer yet another defeat as stand-in captain and offered little resistance himself to Anderson when he prodded indecisive­ly at a full-length delivery and Ben Stokes held the catch at second slip. Worse was the follow for the West Indies when Darren Bravo, troubled by a finger injury which kept him off the field for the entire England second innings, followed a delivery from Anderson for Root to complete a comfortabl­e catch at first slip.

Mindful of a forecast of showers later in the day, Root gave both Stokes and Wood spells with the relatively new ball in the quest for more success before the lunch interval.

Wood provided it when Hope, on 14, was caught on the back foot to a delivery which did not make the height that he anticipate­d and Stuart Broad pedalling back at cover-point held the catch with both hands over his head. England clearly had a swift declaratio­n on their minds at the start of the day's play with Root and Stokes resuming at 325 for four.

They belted 36 runs at a run-a-minute until the skipper mis-cued a low full-toss from Shannon Gabriel and Hetmyer held the catch diving forward at mid-wicket to prompt the declaratio­n.

West Indies have already won the series after massive victories in the first two Test matches in Barbados and Antigua and are playing this match without regular captain Jason Holder, who is serving a one-match suspension for the failure of his team to maintain the required overrate in the previous match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Joe Root's 16th Test century highlighte­d England's first day of complete dominance in an otherwise disappoint­ing Caribbean campaign as the captain anchored his

team to an unassailab­le position by the end of the third day of the third and final

Test against the West Indies at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia on Monday. His workmanlik­e unbeaten 111 off 209 deliveries included just nine boundaries and typified the tourists' effort to make amends for previous failures in reaching stumps at 325 for four in their second innings, an overall lead of 448 runs with two days still available to push for a consolatio­n victory having already surrendere­d the series and the Wisden Trophy with heavy defeats in the first two matches.

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