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With a five-wicket haul after noon, Mark Wood’s amazing post-lunch stint placed England on the verge of yet another convincing win over the West Indies, which they completed in three days at Edgbaston.
While his unrelenting rockets at Trent Bridge left people’s mouths dropping, they only produced two wickets for the entire match. However, an hour after lunch, his mastery of the reverse-swinging ball explained all five of the remaining wickets held by the West Indies, allowing them to score 19 runs in just 39 balls. In addition to his 2 for 52 from the first innings against the West Indies, Wood finished with 5 for 40 from 14 overs, his seventh five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Mikyle Louis and Kavem Hodge both struck half-centuries, but their efforts were completely destroyed by the burst, leaving West Indies with a meagre 81-run lead.
Ben Stokes opened in place of Zak Crawley, who had left the pitch for scans after hurting his finger while fielding, and the run-chase looked set up for England to Bazball their way to victory. Ben Duckett, with 25 off 16, and Stokes, with an incredible 57 off 28 balls, smashed the mark in 7.2 overs without giving up a wicket to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
England equalled their team record set at Trent Bridge when they reached fifty off just 26 balls. Stokes scored forty-one of those runs this time. After being instrumental in setting the fastest-fifty record in Nottingham, Duckett appeared weary of taking on a supporting role. In just one Jason Holder over, he hit four boundaries.
Stokes, on the other hand, struck the winning runs, swinging a waist-high full-toss from Kraigg Brathwaite for six through backward square-leg, underscoring the one-sided nature of the series despite some encouraging moments of fight from the West Indies. Stokes recorded the fastest Test fifty for an England batter and tied for third fastest overall, off just 24 balls.