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England captain Ben Stokes finished off the West Indies in a blaze of glory at Edgbaston then praised Mark Wood for showing “the heart of a lion” to set up the win.
The hosts celebrated a 3-0 whitewash over the tourists as they roared to a 10-wicket victory in the third Test, putting together a sprint finish for the second Sunday in a row.
Stokes ended things in riotous fashion as they chased down a slender target of 82 on the third afternoon, crashing 57 not out in just 28 balls after promoting himself to opener.
Standing in for Zak Crawley, who fractured his little finger in the field, Stokes reached his half-century in only 24 deliveries – shaving four off Sir Ian Botham’s 43-year-old record for England’s fastest ever half-century.
He dumped a pair of sixes into the stands to wrap things up in just 7.2 overs but was happier to shine a light on Wood’s outstanding efforts with the ball.
The 35-year-old was remarkably unlucky to leave Trent Bridge with only two wickets last week after an outstanding display of pace bowling that saw him top 97mph but finally got his just deserts in a destructive post-lunch spell that saw him take the West Indies last five wickets in the space of 21 balls.
Wood intimidated the tourists with bumpers, threatened their outside edges with reverse swing and blitzed the stumps when he went full and fast.
“It was an amazing spell. He’s got the heart of a lion and that’s exactly what you want as a captain,” he said.
“The skill and the X-factor he has…it looked like he was going to take a wicket every ball. He’s walked off with five-for but I still don’t think he’s got the rewards he actually deserves for the effort he’s put in over the last two Test matches.
It was an amazing spell. He's got the heart of a lion— Ben Stokes on Mark Wood
“He’s just been incredible. He’s known for running in spell after spell, ball after ball, and giving everything he possibly can towards the team and the shirt but that spell this afternoon was awesome. Not only was it fast but it was extremely skilful and came at a time when I sensed it was time to blow them away.”
As for his big-hitting cameo with the bat, which ended both the game and the series with a crescendo, Stokes admitted he was a man on a mission.
“I was always going to go out there and try to be ultra positive. At a certain stage it was just about trying to hit every ball for four or six,” he said.
“Once one hit the middle I was like, yeah I might as well have a crack. I genuinely didn’t know about the record. Paul Collingwood told me up in the dressing-room that I had the fastest 50 for England, he’s the one that checks the records. I’m pretty chuffed to go past Beefy. A bottle of champagne would be appreciated!”
It is only a matter of weeks since England made some major changes to their side, taking a handful of big decisions after the 4-1 series loss in India. Out went Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Jack Leach – joined after one Test by record wicket-taker James Anderson – and in came a new guard of Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson and Shoaib Bashir.
All three have had a significant impact, Atkinson named player of the series after harvesting 22 wickets, Bashir taking a match-winning five-for in the second Test and Smith producing knocks of 70 and 95 to go with some tidy wicketkeeping.
“I feel what we are good at is identifying something in a player that stands out. It’s nice to see those decisions pay off,” said Stokes.
“I love nothing more than seeing my team-mates do well and flourish. You always want them to go out and succeed, I’m quite exuberant in that sense.”
