James Anderson and Moeen Ali both picked up three wickets each to help England to a crushing 232-run win in the third Test against Windies in St Lucia.
Despite an excellent unbeaten hundred by Roston Chase, much of the Windies batting line-up crumbled in trying to chase a mammoth target of 485, helping England finish the series with a consolation victory.
England began the morning in a hurry to declare with the bat, having finished the previous evening with a lead of 448 runs. The third ball of the day, which saw Ben Stokes slap Kemar Roach down the ground for four, signalled the intent of the visitors, who were looking to finish the red-ball leg of their tour on a high.
While Joe Root starred on day three with his 16th Test hundred, it was Stokes (48*) who was at the forefront of England’s brief attack in the opening session, treating Roach to a pulled six over the leg side. Root (122) eventually fell clipping a full toss into the hands of Shimron Hetmyer at short mid-wicket, and with his departure called for the declaration.
As ever, Anderson was lethal with the new ball. John Campbell flashed hard at his first ball faced, only to see Moeen take a stunning diving catch at gully. Kraigg Brathwaite (8) and Darren Bravo’s (0) outside-edges were also drawn to leave Windies in tatters at 10/3 from just 6.1 overs.
After a brief period of resistance, things went from bad to worse for Windies when Shai Hope (14) fell to Mark Wood for the second time in the match, a short delivery seeing Hope hang his bat awkwardly, with the ball lobbing up to Stuart Broad at point, who made no mistake with a simple catch. Windies finished the session on 35/4, their hopes of saving the match all but over.
Nevertheless, Hetmyer and Chase managed to frustrate England after the break with a 45-run partnership, one that ended in dismal fashion for the home side. A full toss to Chase from Wood was sent towards the point boundary, with a seemingly easy three runs on offer. However, poor running between the wickets saw to a comfortable run out for England, with Hetmyer sent on his way for 19.
Shane Dowrich fell for the same score, with Moeen finding drift to catch the batsman’s edge, allowing Ben Stokes to demonstrate his catching skills at first slip. Despite the carnage unfolding at the other end, Chase kept battling and ended the session unbeaten on 53 from 138 deliveries.
