Defeat looms for Windies

MANCHESTER, England (CMC):

Battle-weary Windies were staring at a heavy defeat after enduring one of their worst days of the tour as Stuart Broad’s six-wicket haul followed by a trio of damaging half-centuries installed England as firm favourites to win the decisive third Test and reclaim the Wisden Trophy.

A shambolic third day at Old Trafford saw the Caribbean side concede a first-innings lead of 172 after they were dismissed for 197 after resuming the morning on 137/6, with Broad taking all four wickets to end with 6/31.

England then stormed to 226 for two in their second innings thanks to half-centuries from Roy Burns (90), captain Joe Root (68 not out), and Dom Sibley (56), and when the declaration came at 12 p.m. Jamaica time, Windies had been handed an improbable target of 399 runs.

Left with just six overs to survive before the close, The Windies were once again hurt by Broad, the right-hander removing John Campbell (0) and nightwatchman Kemar Roach (4) to send the tourists limping to 10/2 and push his career tally to 499 wickets.

With thunderstorms in the forecast for nearly all of today, the Windies will keep an anxious watch on the skies, hoping that the elements can help thwart England’s charge towards a seemingly inevitable victory.

To add to their woes, West Indies were further besieged by injury as wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich took a blow to his face in the eighth over of the England innings and played no further part in the contest, and fast bowlers Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder were forced off the field at points with niggles.

In fact, Gabriel was limited to just five overs, two before lunch and three following the resumption, and never featured again.

ENGLAND 1st Innings 369

WINDIES 1st Innings

(overnight 137 for six)

K Brathwaite c Root b Broad 1

J Campbell c Burns b Archer 32

S Hope c wkp Buttler b Anderson 17

S Brooks c wkp Buttler b Anderson 4

R Chase lbw b Broad 9

J Blackwood b Woakes 26

*J Holder lbw b Broad 46

+S Dowrich c Woakes b Broad 37

R Cornwall lbw b Broad 10

K Roach c Root b Broad 0

S Gabriel not out 0

Extras (b4, lb5, w5, nb1) 15

TOTAL (all out, 65 overs) 197

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Brathwaite), 2-44 (Campbell), 3-58 (Hope), 4-59 (Brooks), 5-73 (Chase), 6-110 (Blackwood), 7-178 (Holder), 8-188 (Cornwall), 9-188 (Roach), 10-197 (Dowrich)

Bowling: Anderson 16-5-28-2, Broad 14-4-31-6, Archer 17-1-72-2 (w5), Woakes 18-2-57-1 (nb1).

ENGLAND 2nd Innings

R Burns c wkp Da Silva (sub) b Chase 90

D Sibley lbw b Holder 56

*J Root not out 68

Extras (b6, lb3, nb3) 1 2

TOTAL (2 wkts decl., 58 overs) 226

Fall of wickets: 1-114 (Sibley), 2-226 (Burns)

Bowling: Roach 11-4-34-0, Gabriel 5-0-19-0 (nb3), Holder 9-2-24-1, Chase 14-2-61-1, Cornwall 19-2-79-0.

WINDIES 2nd Innings (target: 399 runs)

K Brathwaite not out 2

J Campbell c Root b Broad 0

K Roach c wkp Buttler b Broad 4

S Hope not out 4

TOTAL (2 wkts, 6 overs) 10

To bat: S Brooks, R Chase, J Blackwood, *J Holder, +S Dowrich, R Cornwall, S Gabriel.

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Campbell), 2-6 (Roach)

Bowling: Anderson 3-2-2-0, Broad 3-1-8-2.

Position: Windies require a further 389 runs with eight wickets remaining.

Toss: Windies

Umpires: Michael Gough, Richard Kettleborough; TV – Richard Illingworth.