England v Windies, 3rd Test, Review: James Anderson special gives England series win at Lord’s

England have defeated Windies in the third Test on day 3 in a low scoring Test match at Lord’s by 9 wickets. James Anderson continued to weave his magic and ran through the visitors’ batting line-up to register his career best figures of 7/42. England chased down the paltry total of 107 quite comfortably with 9 wickets in hand.

Day 3 started with the match hanging right in the balance as the Windies had a lead of 22 runs with 7 wickets in hand. One big partnership and they could have extended it up to 200 and given the way the topsy turvy Test had panned out, it would have been enough. Similarly, a couple of quick wickets and England would have been in business to seal the series on the same day

Anderson wreaks havoc with one of his best spells

Jimmy Anderson started with the wicket of Roston Chase off the fourth ball of the day as England drew first blood. Soon Jermaine Blackwood succumbed to the pressure as he played one away from the body off the same bowler only to nick it to Jonny Bairstow. Windies were reeling at 100/5 with Shai Hope left stranded at one end.

Hope and Shane Dowrich resisted for some time but the latter played a needless shot off a climbing Toby Roland Jones bouncer which was pouched by Stuart Broad at mid-on. Skipper Jason Holder entered and calmed the nerves of his partner as they added 32 for the seventh wicket which threatened to take the lead over 100 but Anderson, like he was still celebrating his 500 wickets, struck again.

He foxed the best batsman of the opposition line-up, Hope, this time with an unplayable delivery which pitched on the off stump, just short of a good length, shaped away and kissed the outside edge through to Bairstow. By the virtue of this wicket, he also registered his fifth 5-fer at the Home of Cricket. Frankly, the wicket shut all the hopes of Windies to build the lead further.

Holder tried his best and guarded against the prodigious swing bowling from England bowlers but it was only a matter of time. He was scalped by the struggling Stuart Broad who for once was not at his best. The formalities were completed by the man himself who was on a roll in this Test James Anderson. He proved too good to the tail enders as he disturbed the timber of Devendra Bishoo and Kemar Roach to register his career best figures.

England chase down 107 in canter

Windies batsmen were undone by the world class swing bowling of Anderson on the best day for batting. The sun was out today and they had a great chance to complete their comeback which started by bowling out the hosts for 194. England started their chase and looked in no trouble as Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach failed to pitch the ball in the right areas. Bishoo pinned Alastair Cook in front of the stumps on the first ball he bowled in the match only to delay the inevitable.

Mark Stoneman and Tom Westley looked comfortable, perhaps for the first time in the match and made sure there were no hiccups in the chase. Soon the shoulders of the visitors dropped as England sealed the series in an extended second session of Day 3. Stoneman and Westley strengthened their cases for the Ashes and remained unbeaten on 40 and 44 respectively.

What happened in first two days?

In the decider, Windies opted to bat first on a pitch with a green tinge on it and in overcast conditions. They never looked settled as Stokes rattled them with his career best figures of 6/22. They were bowled out for a mere 123. In reply, the visitors made a stunning comeback to skittle England for 194 as the last two wickets added 60 runs. Kemar Roach was excellent and added his name on the honours board with 5/72.

This was a neck and neck battle between the two brilliant bowling attacks but Stokes and Anderson were too good for the visitors as they gave up on day 3. Both of them were literally unplayable in this Test as fans witnessed one of the best exhibitions of swing bowling in recent times. This was also one of the best performances by a visiting team in England given how South Africa looked flustered at the fag end of the Test series.

Another series where the Carribean side progressed when nobody gave them a chance in this series after losing 19 wickets in a day in the first match. But they prevailed to win the next one and fought brilliantly in the final Test. The focus now shifts to the limited overs series which is also immensely important for Windies. If they manage to beat to Ireland and then beat England 4-1, they could well topple Sri Lanka and qualify for 2019 World Cup.

Brief Scores:

1st Innings

Windies: 123/10  (K Powell 39); (Ben Stokes 6/22)

England: 194/10 (B Stokes 60); (Kemar Roach 5/72)

2nd Innings

Windies: 177/10 (S Hope 62); (J Anderson 7/42)

England: 107/1 (T Westley 44*); (D Bishoo 1/35)

Man of the Match: Ben Stokes

Windies’ Man of the Series: Shai Hope

England’s Man of the Series: James Anderson