A devastating spell from seam bowler James Anderson set England up for a nine-wicket triumph in the second Test against the West Indies on Saturday as the tourists went 1-0 up in the three-match series.
A fiery Anderson ripped through the West Indies middle order in the opening session of the fifth and final day, making excellent use of the new ball to record figures of 4-43.
The Lancastrian also claimed two catches and ran out Jason Holder as the home team were bowled out for 307, having resumed on 202-2.
Photo: Reuters
That left England chasing a small target of 143 to win and captain Alastair Cook (59 not out) and Gary Ballance (81 not out) helped them clinch their first Test victory on foreign soil since beating India in Kolkata in December 2012.
“It was a lot of effort on that wicket,” Cook told the presentation ceremony. “It was a slow wicket throughout and a pretty flat one. To get 20 wickets the way we did was a great effort. We showed a lot of character and obviously a lot of skill.”
To add to West Indian misery, promising all-rounder Holder was stretchered off the field after landing badly on his ankle in his delivery stride.
While there is to be a Caribbean inquest into the way the home team collapsed, most of the credit for the momentum shift must go to Anderson.
He claimed the important wicket of Kraigg Brathwaite for 116 after the centurion could not keep down a sharply rising delivery and was caught by Joe Root in the gully.
In addition, the paceman removed Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 7 and Marlon Samuels for 37.
Anderson also caught Jermaine Blackwood at mid-off for 10 off Chris Jordan, ran out Holder for 2 and snaffled up Kemar Roach’s chip to mid-on as he fell to spinner Moeen Ali for 10.
Moeen also trapped skipper Denesh Ramdin lbw for 28 and removed last man Shannon Gabriel in identical fashion.
Jonathan Trott was the only batsman to fall in England’s second innings. He went for a duck after chopping a delivery from Gabriel on to his stumps.
“We fought hard for the first four days, but that one session [before lunch] where we lost six wickets really cost us the match,” Ramdin said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB