Windies Dismantle England In Second Test To Wrap Up Series

England’s recent collapse woes once again came back to haunt them as Windies thrashed them by ten wickets in the second Test to win the ongoing three-match series with a match to spare. Windies wrapped up the win inside three days to register their first triumph over a major Test-playing nation, home or away, since they beat New Zealand in 2012 and also the first over England since 2009.

After bowling out England for just 132 in the first essay, Windies posted 306 in their innings, thus taking a big lead of 119. In reply, England slipped from 35-0 to 132 all out, with Kemar Roach and Jason Holder taking four wickets each in Antigua. With Windies chasing only 14, John Campbell wrapped up the famous victory with a six.

England had started the day on a good note, taking the final four Windies wickets for just 34 runs. The openers – Rory Burns and Joe Denly – then  survived the four overs before lunch. However, the floodgates opened once Burns was sent back by Holder and the 35-run opening stand came to an end. 14 runs later, Holder cleaned up Jonny Bairstow to put Windies well in command.

Alzarri Joseph (2-12), playing despite his mother passing away overnight, then removed Joe Root (7), given out caught behind after a review, and Denly (17), who lost his off stump after shouldering arms. England kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually all out for 132. Jos Buttler was the only batsman to cross the 20-run mark, scoring 24.

The in-form hosts have a chance to secure a whitewash when the third Test in St Lucia begins on 9 February.

Brief scores:

England 187 (Moeen Ali 60, Jonny Bairstow 52; Kemar Roach 4-30, Shannon Gabriel 3-45) and 132 (Jos Buttler 24; Jason Holder 4-43, Kemar Roach 4-52) lost to Windies 306 (Darren Bravo 50, Kraigg Brathwaite 49, John Campbell 47, Shai Hope 44; Stuart Broad 3-53, Moeen Ali 3-62) and 17/0 (John Campbell 11*, Kraigg Brathwaite 5*) by 10 wickets.