England need 119 runs to win the rearranged fifth Test and secure a drawn series with India after a superb day four put them in position to pull off a record chase.
Delayed by a year after a COVID-19 outbreak in the India camp forced a Test originally scheduled for Old Trafford to be cancelled, a fascinating conclusion is in store at Edgbaston.
The hosts will have confidence of chasing down 378 after reaching stumps on 259-3 with the two men who hit the winning runs as England clinched a 3-0 win over New Zealand last week - Joe Root (76 not out) and Jonny Bairstow (72no) continuing their outstanding form.
India, who have dominated much of this match, were earlier dismissed for 245, and a seemingly ominous target that would break England's previous record chase of 362 against Australia in 2019.
Stokes (4-33) polished off the India tail with the final three wickets. Prior to that, Matthew Potts (2-50) did much of the hard work in reducing the tourists - who were 125-3 at the start of play - from what had looked like a commanding position at 153-3, with smart hands from Root allowing Jack Leach to remove the dangerous Rishabh Pant (57).
Despite getting little from their lower order, India may have felt comfortable defending such a lofty target. Any such feeling was quickly dispelled as Alex Lees and Zak Crawley belied their struggles opening the batting by reaching 100 inside 20 overs.
Crawley was denied his 50 as he left a Jasprit Bumrah delivery that clipped off stump and when the bowler removed Ollie Pope for a duck and Lees was run out after tea, India looked to be turning the tide.
But as they did consistently against New Zealand, Root and Bairstow wrested the momentum in aggressive fashion, both once again displaying the fluency and timing that has turned England's Test fortunes around and could now rescue this series.
Anderson achieves another milestone
Jimmy Anderson was not overly involved in limiting India's second-innings lead in a wicket-taking capacity, but his catch at midwicket to dismiss Shreyas Iyer saw him join a select group as he claimed his 100th catch.
Indeed, he became the sixth player in Tests to register 1000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches. Also on that list are Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Carl Hooper, Shane Warne and Jacques Kallis.
Lees and Crawley lay platform
Lees' half-century came in just 44 balls, making it the fourth-fastest by an England opener. His stand of 107 with Crawley was England's sixth fourth-innings opening partnership of 100 or more this century. It was also the highest such England partnership at Edgbaston.
After a Bumrah-inspired blip, Root and Bairstow took advantage of that platform, putting on 150 in 197 balls. Bairstow's lone six was England's 58th of 2022, putting them seven shy of their record total of 65 from 2005 with a three-Test series with South Africa and a tour of Pakistan still to come.
Jimmy Adams out as CWI Director of Cricket; search for replacement underway
Jimmy Adams is out as Cricket West Indies Director of Cricket and the regional government body has commenced a search for his replacement.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Wednesday that the recruitment process for a new director of cricket has begun as the role will become vacant at the end of June when Jimmy Adams' contract expires.
Adams, who played 54 Tests and 127 One-Day Internationals for the West Indies, has been in the role since January 2017.
“We are extremely grateful for the leadership and contribution that Jimmy has made over the past six and half years," said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.
"He has overhauled our High-Performance structure, especially with respect to Coach Education and Development, Sport Science and Medicine and most recently with the launch of our Academy based at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. I have no doubt that Jimmy will continue to contribute to the game, particularly West Indies Cricket.”
Meanwhile, CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow, lauded Adams for his contribution to West Indies Cricket.
“Jimmy has always served West Indies Cricket with passion and distinction. His composed demeanor and professionalism have inspired many positive outcomes over the years," said Dr Shallow.
"One of his legacies would definitely be the commencement of a coaching revolution in the region. On behalf of the CWI Board, we wish him a favorable future path.”
Adams said serving West Indies cricket has been a privilege.
“It's been an honour to have been involved in the ongoing evolution of CWI," he said.
"I have had the privilege of working with some amazing people across the organization and am grateful for all the support they gave me over the past six plus years. I wish everyone all the best going forward especially in light of the various challenges that exist both regionally and globally.”
Under the leadership of Jimmy Adams as Director of Cricket, CWI started a Coach Education & Development Department that created a new set of CWI coaching courses and accreditations that has seen over 1,000 new certified coaches in the region; launched the Men’s Academy, based at CCG in Antigua; started an U19 Regional Women’s Tournament, Women’s ‘A’ Team series and the Women’s Caribbean Premier League and established a Sports Science & Medicine Department to drive a fitness culture.
He also implemented a new Selection Policy that included appointing separate Women’s and Youth Selection Panels as well as established the High-Performance Coaching Group.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots keep Evin Lewis, Andre Fletcher among seven retentions for 2023 CPL
The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have retained d big hitters Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher for their 2023 campaign in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The Patriots will also retain middle-order batsman Sherfane Rutherford, all-rounder Dominic Drakes as well as fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell and wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua da Silva. The Patriots have also brought in Oshane Thomas who was transferred from the Barbados Royals.
The tournament gets underway on 16 August with the final taking place on 24 September. There will be matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.
The overseas players and draft picks will be announced during the Republic Bank CPL draft show which will be broadcast at the end of June.
Kevin Sinclair stars with bat and ball as West Indies make 445, restrict Bangladesh 'A' to 157-7
West Indies ‘A’ took full control of the third and final unofficial Test against Bangladesh ‘A’ on Wednesday on the back of strong performances from their batsmen and bowlers at the Syhlet International Stadium.
Carrying on from their overnight score of 320-6, the West Indies eventually scored 445 all out. Their bowlers then combined to reduce the hosts to 157-7, still 288 runs behind with only three wickets remaining.
The hero of the day was Kevin Sinclair, who scored 60, the sixth half-century of the innings to help push the West Indies ‘A’ past 400 runs. Sinclair was 22 not overnight in a 60-run partnership with Raymon Reifer, who failed to add to his overnight score of 56.
With only two runs added to the team score, Reifer was out caught behind off in the second over the day to Shoriful Islam but Sinclair and Akeem Jordan put on 87 for the eighth wicket that took the score to 407 when Jordan, who has been showing off his potential with the bat, was dismissed by Mahmudul Hasan Joy for 47.
Ten runs later, Sinclair’s stay at the crease ended when he was trapped lbw by Nasum Ahmed, who also snared Veerasammy Permaul in similar fashion for 18 to end the lower-order resistance. Anderson Phillip was not out on 13 when the innings ended after 116.2 overs
Nasum Ahmed finished with figures of 5-133 from 38.2 overs. Shoriful Islam took 2-80 and Musfik Hasan 2-59 in support.
Bangladesh ‘A’ struggled with the bat as Sinclair took 2-51 and Phillip 2-36 ripped through the line-up that offered little resistance.
Captain Saif Hasan was the top scorer with 32 and opener Zakir Hasan was run out for 29. Nurul Hasan contributed 28 but the hosts were unable to establish any significant partnerships while trying to cope with the visitors’ attack.
Atr stumps, Tanzim Hasan Sakib was not out on 17 with Nasum Ahmed at the other end on seven.
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