England beat West Indies by 232 runs to restore some pride

Tue, Feb 12, '19

England and West Indies have plenty of food for thought after a third Test won emphatically by the former and a series clinched almost equally as convincingly by the latter.

Joe Root's return to form, Mark Wood's revival as a strike bowling option, and lingering uncertainty at the top of the order were England's takeaways from St Lucia, where the tourists claimed a 232-run victory inside four days for a face-saving 1-2 series scoreline.

They switch their focus to the five ODIs starting next Wednesday but, in the context of a landmark year of cricket including a home World Cup and Ashes series, they will also be thinking ahead to the English summer.

West Indies, meanwhile, will be boosted by their series win as underdogs, but they missed suspended captain Jason Holder in the dead rubber and will welcome him back in the limited-overs series opener in Bridgetown, the scene of his unbeaten double-century that helped lead his side to victory in the first Test. They also felt the absence of impressive allrounder Keemo Paul - Holder's replacement in St Lucia who broke down while fielding early on day three with a torn thigh muscle.

What England had lacked in the first two Tests - in sharp contrast to West Indies - was someone to stand up with bat or ball. In the third Test they had both with Wood's five-wicket haul in the first innings and Root's century in the second, but they also enjoyed a stronger all-round team performance with Joe Denly, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler scoring runs and James Anderson's three wickets early in West Indies' second innings snuffing out any hopes of chasing down a hefty target of 485.

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