Ben Stokes scored the fastest fifty in Test cricket for an England player as the home team easily beat the West Indies by 10 wickets in the third Test at Edgbaston on Sunday. England needed only 82 runs to win and reached 87-0 in just 7.2 overs, completing a 3-0 series sweep of the West Indies in impressive fashion and with more than two days left in the match. England’s captain Stokes, who was playing as an opener because Zak Crawley was hurt, took only 24 balls to score fifty runs, which included nine fours and a six. This was faster than the previous record of 28 balls set by Ian Botham against India in Delhi in 1981.
Stokes then finished the game by hitting a six off West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s part-time spin, ending with 57 runs not out.
Earlier, fast bowler Mark Wood performed exceptionally well, taking five wickets for just nine runs in six overs, and ended up with five wickets for 40 runs in 14 overs as the West Indies were all out for 175 in their second innings.
West Indies opener Mikyle Louis, who scored 57 for his first Test fifty, and Kavem Hodge (55) provided some resistance, but the next highest score in the innings was 12, which was shared by Alick Athanaze, Jason Holder, and extras.
The tourists started the day at 33-2, still 61 runs behind England’s first-innings total of 376. Jamie Smith narrowly missed out on a maiden Test century, scoring 95, while Joe Root (87), Chris Woakes (62), and Stokes (54) helped England recover from a collapse to 54-5.
Louis remained not out at 18 overnight, having been let off by Stokes when he was on nine, and Athanaze also stayed not out at five.
Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir and Wood started the bowling after they had worked well together during England’s 241-run victory in the second Test at Trent Bridge.
Athanaze quickly got out for 12, being lbw to the 20-year-old Bashir after missing a sweep.
However, the West Indies did manage to avoid the humiliation of another innings defeat in three Tests, following their innings and 114-run loss in the first match of the series at Lord’s.
Louis, who played his first game in that match, scored his first 50 points in a big way by hitting a ball from Bashir over the boundary for six points. He did it again with a ball from the spinner.
However, the 23-year-old player was out shortly after when the fast bowler, Stokes, made him hit a long ball to the second slip position.
Hodge scored his first century in a Test match at Trent Bridge and reached fifty runs in only 56 balls, hitting seven fours.
However, the West Indies, with 151 runs and 5 wickets down at lunch, lost easily as Wood took out the lower order.
Joshua Da Silva was out lbw and Alzarri Joseph had his stumps knocked over by Wood after missing a shot.
Wood then hit opposing fast bowler Jayden Seales with a bouncer and bowled him out the next ball without scoring, using a classic combination of deliveries.
The 34-year-old player named Wood, who had only managed to get two wickets in the entire second Test, finished the game when he made Shamar Joseph get caught out at the second slip position by his teammate Stokes from the Durham team.
Usually, that would be the end of Stokes’s part in the game, but because Crawley hurt his finger while missing a catch earlier that day, it led to the left-handed batsman Stokes making a strong attack.
Stokes hit hard and got four runs from Alzarri Joseph through cover-point and deep square leg in the first over of the chase. The fast bowler gave away 23 runs in his first two overs.
He then hit Jayden Seales for four runs with a straight shot and sent Jason Holder’s ball soaring over the tall all-rounder’s head for another boundary, much to the enjoyment of a full, sunlit audience.
