Wood and Stokes blow West Indies away to power England to 3-0 clean sweep

It was the kind of lower order demolition job once associated with West Indies but on a giddy third day at Edgbaston, the tourists were the ones on the receiving end. Roared on by a capacity crowd after lunch, Mark Wood unleashed an electric burst of fast-twitch reverse swing with which a 3-0 series clean sweep for England was secured.

Not even Ben Stokes promoting himself to opener and crashing the fastest half-century by an Englishman - 24 balls, beating Ian Botham’s long-held record by four - could knock Wood off the top of the podium after this 10-wicket win. Stokes was murderous, no question, a target of 82 vapourised in around 40 minutes. But Wood, luckless in Nottingham last week despite bowling like the speed of light, was the true catalyst here.

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Even with a sense of inevitability about the end result after Jamie Smith’s stylish 95 led England’s turnaround on the second day, there was still a job to be done. And after West Indies hustled to 151 for five by lunch – a lead of 57 runs – it looked like that job would involve a good deal of patience. Kavem Hodge was well set on 52, while England knew plenty about the battling qualities of Joshua Da Silva at the other end.

Enter Wood, who was thrown a 41-over old ball by Stokes after the break and set off on a thrilling charge. He claimed five wickets in the space of just 21 deliveries and each one was met with a collective gasp. Attention right now may be on the Olympics, where all manner of remarkable feats are being delivered. But this was something to rival all that from a bowler who has a strong claim to be the fastest in England’s history.

And to say the luck finally turned for Wood here would be to sell short the qualities that led to his fifth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Resistance was utterly futile out in the middle, Wood getting the ball to swing in late at speeds north of 90mph and sending stumps cartwheeling like the gymnasts in Paris. West Indies may be a shadow of their former selves but a good number of lower orders would have struggled to cope.

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It began with Da Silva being pinned lbw by a full ball – the wicketkeeper’s feet stuck in concrete by the pace and late swing – and ended with Shamar Joseph fencing meekly to slip. In between there were a pair of clonking clean bowleds to wipe out Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales, while Hodge, one of the bright sparks for West Indies after that memorable century at Trent Bridge, was simply nicked off with a beauty.

After Wood walked off to a standing ovation, the ball raised to all corners as he did so, all that was left was for the openers to negotiate the target. The only catch was that one of them, Zak Crawley was in hospital undergoing a scan. A fractured a little finger was the issue here, Crawley dropping a sharp catch off the bowling of Stokes during a more hard-fought morning session in which Mikyle Louis briefly crackled with 57.

Not for the first time, Stokes stepped up and in the time it took to queue for a pint, the target was monstered. Striking an unbeaten 57 from just 28 balls, with Ben Duckett chipping in 25 more, the England captain sent the spectators into raptures – even if, by doing so, he also cut short their entertainment. Still, they got to witness a bit of history, Stokes belting Shamar Joseph over deep mid-wicket for the first of his two sixes and in doing so, surpassing the 28-ball half-century that Botham set back in 1981.

• Full report from Edgbaston to follow here later …