'Best reverse swing performance I've seen' - Ben Stokes astonished by Mark Wood's spell in Birmingham

England National Cricket Team Test skipper Ben Stokes hailed pacer Mark Wood's spell in the final game of the Test series against West Indies National Cricket Team. He said that it was the best spell of reverse swing that he had seen in a long time in Test cricket.

England speedster Mark Wood was one of the major factors behind the win of England in the third Test against West Indies. The fast bowler changed the complexion of the game with his fiery swing and made the opposition batters look clueless.

Mark Wood extracted the reverse swing pretty well and made the ball move pretty well. On top of that, his pace with the ball was too much to handle as he rattled the stumps of West Indies batters and picked five wickets in quick succession of time to take his team to the top.

Mark Wood ended with the figures of 5/40 and his incredible spell with the ball saw England bundling out West Indies National Cricket Team for 175 runs and setting themselves a target of 81 runs to chase. They won the game by 10 wickets and sealed the series 3-0.

Ben Stokes was in awe of the way Mark Wood bowled in the match. He said that the bowl started moving a lot and called the pacer's the spell the best reverse swing spell. Speaking after the game, he explained:

"It started doing loads. You need to blame Louis for this. I think that's one of the best reverse swing performances I've seen in a long time."

He’s got a lion’s heart. He blew the game open for us - Ben Stokes on Mark Wood

During the post-match presentation as well, Ben Stokes lavished rich praise on Mark Wood, calling him a lion-hearted person. He said that the pacer blew the game open for them and stated that he always puts the opposition under pressure. He stated:

"He’s got a lion’s heart. He blew the game open for us. Deserves more than what he got. Wood knows how much he affects the game from the other end; he might not always get the wickets, but he knows the bowler at the other end might get them."

Ben Stokes further hailed Mark Wood for his spell during the afternoon and stated that the fast bowler looked threatening. While calling him X-factor, he said that the fast bowler is very important to the team. He explained:

"That spell in the afternoon was phenomenal, looked like he could take a wicket every ball. He’s very important, that hour shows why we need him in the team, the x-factor he brings in with his pace is very important," he concluded.

Mark Wood was benched for the first game of the series but once James Anderson retired, he was included in the team for the last two games. The fast bowler made an immediate impact and troubled batters with his pace. He ended the series with 9 wickets in 2 games.