England take command as they chase Windies clean sweep
England have put themselves in a commanding position after taking a 94-run first-innings lead over West Indies and then reducing the tourists to 2-33 at stumps on the second day of the third and final Test on Saturday.
England, 3-38 overnight, scored 376 at Edgbaston before making inroads into the West Indies top order with the wickets of captain Kraigg Brathwaite and the struggling Kirk McKenzie in the last 80 minutes of play.
Mikyle Louis (18 not out) and Alick Athanaze, unbeaten on five, will resume the Windies’ second innings on Sunday, with the tourists trailing by 61 runs.
England took six balls to make a breakthrough with Chris Woakes bowling Brathwaite without scoring while McKenzie’s poor form continued as he was caught behind off Gus Atkinson for eight.
Earlier, Jamie Smith and Joe Root both fell agonisingly short of a Test century while Ben Stokes and Woakes also scored half centuries on a day that started poorly for England but which they quickly turned around to dominate as they look for a clean sweep of the series.
Root’s controlled innings took him past 12,000 Test runs, leapfrogging Caribbean great Brian Lara in the process.
Smith was bowled five runs short of a maiden test ton while Root scored 87 as England fought back from 5-54 to move ahead of the Windies’ first innings total of 282.
The 24-year-old Smith, playing his third Test, looked a consummate veteran with an array of attacking shots as he sped towards the milestone, only to be undone by an off cutter from Shamar Joseph that stayed low and took out his stumps.
Smith came in after Root and skipper Stokes put on a 115-run sixth wicket partnership that hauled England back from a precarious position after they lost two early wickets.
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