Wood takes five as England win third Test

Third Rothesay Test (day three of five), Edgbaston

West Indies 282 (Brathwaite 61; Atkinson 4-67) & 175 (Louis 57; Wood 5-40)

England 376 (Smith 95; Joseph 4-122) & 87-0 (Stokes 57*)

England won by 10 wickets

Scorecard

Mark Wood took five wickets in a devastating spell of fast bowling as England wrapped up a 3-0 series victory over West Indies with an emphatic 10-wicket win in the third Test.

A raucous day three Edgbaston crowd roared Wood on after the lunch interval as his 5-9 in 21 deliveries spectacularly blew away the tourists, who began the day on 33-2, for 175 in their second innings.

Set 82 for victory skipper Ben Stokes then hit England's fastest-ever Test half-century off just 24 balls, as he stepped in to open the batting.

Stokes, who finished unbeaten on 57, had opened with fellow left-hander Ben Duckett after regular opener Zak Crawley suffered a broken finger in the field.

He thrilled supporters with some archetypal Bazball hitting in a carefree knock which included nine fours and two sixes as the hosts romped to the target in just 7.2 overs.

West Indies had earlier shown some resistance thanks to a maiden Test fifty for Mikyle Louis, while Kavem Hodge also made a measured half-century, before Wood supercharged the atmosphere with a superb spell.

Windies buckle against brilliant Wood

This was the first time in his Test career that Wood has taken five wickets in a single spell, and there were some truly eye-catching dismissals to savour.

He started by trapping Joshua Da Silva lbw with a toe-crushing full ball which the West Indies wicketkeeper knew was plumb, wasting no time in exiting stage left.

Shortly after Alzarri Joseph saw his middle stump uprooted by a 92.5mph delivery which tailed in past his bat before Hodge prodded at one and edged it into the gloves of Jamie Smith.

With three wickets in the bag Wood closed in on the kill, as the decibel levels in the Eric Hollies Stand rose every time an over of his began.

They sensed this was fast bowling of the highest calibre, and would doubtless even have drawn nods of approval from the great West Indian quicks of yore.

Wood then sent Jayden Seales' off stump cartwheeling out of the ground – the most spectacular dismissal of the lot - having softened up the tail ender with a short ball moments earlier.

He secured his fifth five-wicket haul in 36 Tests two balls later when Shamar Joseph edged to second slip where Harry Brook snaffled a smart diving catch.

"I think that's one of the best reverse swing performances I've seen in a long time. I know bowling at 93mph is tough but when it is reverse swinging as well it's going to be even tougher," Stokes said.

There were eyebrows raised when Wood was handed a three-year central contract by the England & Wales Cricket Board last November, a couple of months shy of his 34th birthday.

He was only two players to be given deals of that length – the other was Brook – but on this evidence it looks a smart call despite his advancing years.

Wood is bowling as quickly, aggressively and smartly as ever. A promise to break the 100mph could well come later in the summer when Sri Lanka visit for three Tests.

The fitness problems which plagued Wood earlier in his career, and deprived England of this type of menacing spell, also appear a thing of the past. Everything is clicking.

As a teetotaller he might not welcome the analogy, but like a fine wine Wood appears to be getting better with age.

Bazball on steroids from Stokes

When Stokes strode out to bat, chest puffed out, with a sense of purpose in his gait Edgbaston chattered that something special might be in the offing.

However, this was Bazball on steroids from Stokes.

He shattered a 42-year record held by Ian Botham for the quickest half-century, surfing the wave of momentum generated by Wood’s spell.

Any sense of conventional cricketing logic that an opener’s job is to diligently see the shine of the new ball, regardless of the circumstances, were laughed off by Stokes.

"When one hit the middle I thought 'I may as well have a crack'," Stokes asserted, in a rather matter-of-fact manner.

There were some fantastic shots in this act of wanton aggression. He started with two off the first over from Alzarri Joseph, thrashing a four through the covers then neatly clipping the next ball off his legs.

The standout, though, was a brutal pull off Shamar Joseph that cleared the mid-wicket boundary to break legendary all-rounder Botham's record.

His knock helped England to their joint-fastest 50 in a Test innings, equalling the record Stokes side set in the previous Test at Trent Bridge - 4.2 overs.

The previous record, 4.3 overs, was set by England against South Africa at The Oval in 1994.

Inevitably, Stokes wrapped up the win with another maximum - whipping opposite number Kraigg Brathwaite over square leg.

This all comes with the caveat of occurring against a West Indies side browbeaten by England across the first two Tests of this series.

The pressure was completely off Stokes after his bowlers, with Gus Atkinson also impressing as he finished England's top wicket-taker across the three Tests with 22 victims to be named player of the series, taking the initiative.

There were moments for West Indies in this Test - not least when they failed to review a Joe Root lbw on day two which would have been out - that did not go their way.

It was their batting which stumbled throughout the series, but a reflection of what it was: inexperienced, undercooked and deprived off its best players who are off playing franchise cricket.

'I had a great conversation with Anderson' - what they said

England bowler and player of the match Mark Wood: "I was in a bit of a bad fettle actually at lunch and I was wondering if it was something I was doing wrong or if I wasn't quite getting the right length.

"I had a great conversation with Jimmy [Anderson], and a couple of the other backroom staff, and he just said, rather than thinking about the outcome, to start thinking about the skill element.

"That first wicket gave me a lot of confidence and I was able to push on from there."

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite: "It was a tough series. We didn't show a lot of discipline with the ball.

"We let them off the hook a lot of times and they were scoring way too fast. We didn't get enough second-innings runs in the last two Test matches."