England's game reaches an all-time low as West Indies win the series
England's game reaches an all-time low as West Indies win the series
On the fourth morning at the Grenada National Stadium, West Indies required just over an hour to seal a devastating 10-wicket victory over England in the pivotal third and final Test.
After resuming at 103 for eight, senior bowler Kemar Roach captured the last two wickets of the tourists' second innings to eliminate them for 120.
With only 28 runs needed for victory, openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell smashed the runs in less than five overs with Brathwaite. The West Indies captain, who was also voted man of the series for his total of 341 runs across 3 games, got the winning runs off Chris Woakes' bowling.
Following tense draws in the first two games in Antigua and Barbados, this outcome gave the West Indies a 1-0 series triumph.
England's record of failure in Test series in the Caribbean has now been prolonged, with only one series victory - in 2004 under Michael Vaughan's leadership. This was the first time Colin Cowdrey's squad had beaten a home side captained by Gary Sobers in five Tests in 54 years.
After England's devastating setback, which came after a shattering Ashes loss in Australia, the emphasis inevitably fell on England captain Joe Root.
Root stated that he believes he has made it quite clear how enthusiastic he is about this squad. He continues to believe that he has the backing of the guys behind him to lead the squad forward. That hasn't altered in any way.
Root did remark on his side's displeasure in this crucial match on a surface that was significantly different from the calm pitches at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and Kensington Oval.
He commented that yesterday was a particularly difficult day, given it was such a critical day in the series, and they just did not manage it as effectively as they could have, as they show in the first two games.
He added that it is frustrating after assuming that they were making progress following a rough winter. He just doesn’t think they each read the surface as carefully as they should have. They have made some progress, but there's still a lot more learning to be done. It won't happen immediately, and they will have to keep working hard to achieve their goals.
After resuming at 103 for eight, senior bowler Kemar Roach captured the last two wickets of the tourists' second innings to eliminate them for 120.
With only 28 runs needed for victory, openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell smashed the runs in less than five overs with Brathwaite. The West Indies captain, who was also voted man of the series for his total of 341 runs across 3 games, got the winning runs off Chris Woakes' bowling.
Following tense draws in the first two games in Antigua and Barbados, this outcome gave the West Indies a 1-0 series triumph.
England's record of failure in Test series in the Caribbean has now been prolonged, with only one series victory - in 2004 under Michael Vaughan's leadership. This was the first time Colin Cowdrey's squad had beaten a home side captained by Gary Sobers in five Tests in 54 years.
After England's devastating setback, which came after a shattering Ashes loss in Australia, the emphasis inevitably fell on England captain Joe Root.
Root stated that he believes he has made it quite clear how enthusiastic he is about this squad. He continues to believe that he has the backing of the guys behind him to lead the squad forward. That hasn't altered in any way.
Root did remark on his side's displeasure in this crucial match on a surface that was significantly different from the calm pitches at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and Kensington Oval.
He commented that yesterday was a particularly difficult day, given it was such a critical day in the series, and they just did not manage it as effectively as they could have, as they show in the first two games.
He added that it is frustrating after assuming that they were making progress following a rough winter. He just doesn’t think they each read the surface as carefully as they should have. They have made some progress, but there's still a lot more learning to be done. It won't happen immediately, and they will have to keep working hard to achieve their goals.