Fast bowler Matthew Hoggard captured a hat trick to help England end 36 years of Caribbean misery in an eight-wicket rout of the West Indies in the third cricket test on Saturday.
Hoggard dismissed Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ryan Hinds in successive balls for the 34th hat trick in test history as the West Indies, resuming the third morning at 21 for one, was flattened for 94 by tea in its lowest ever score at Kensington Oval.
England raced to its victory target of 93 with more than two days to spare to take a victorious 3-0 lead in the four-match series.
"This is as good as it gets, to come here to the Caribbean and to be with a team that has played so well," said Graham Thorpe, named man of the match for his first-innings 119.
The fourth test starts next Saturday at St John's, Antigua, and England will aim for an unprecedented sweep. The last time England enjoyed series success in the West Indies was in 1968, when Colin Cowdrey's team won 1-0.
"It probably hasn't sunk in yet, the achievement. It's been a major achievement," England captain Michael Vaughan said.
"To win it in three days with 10,000 to 12,000 Brits behind us is fantastic. We'll definitely enjoy tonight, we'll probably enjoy tomorrow, and we'll start looking at the next test when we get to Antigua on Tuesday."
The victory sparked huge celebrations for the team and its 10,000-strong band of traveling supporters who dominated the ground which was once a West Indies fortress for almost 60 years.
The entire England squad celebrated the momentous achievement with a lap of honor around the outfield in fading light to acknowledge their chanting, flag-waving fans.
"We've worked very hard as a squad," Vaughan said. "The 11 players will take a lot of the credit but there's a hell a lot of work done behind the scenes that needs to be credited. [Coach] Duncan Fletcher, Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, the physios, the masseuse, the management, Malcolm Ashton, the scorer. There's a lot of hard work done there."
Earlier, the West Indies was undone by 27-year-old Hoggard, who took four for 35 off 14 overs in his 25th test. He became the 10th Englishman to claim a hat trick, and the first ever to do it against the West Indies on its home soil.
Steve Harmison claimed 3-34 to take his series-high tally of wickets to 22, and Andrew Flintoff followed his five-wicket haul in the first innings with 2-20.
West Indies captain Brian Lara withstood the pace barrage for just under three hours on a lively pitch. The star left-hander topscored with 33 before he was ninth out after striking two boundaries off 112 balls.
"I think the guys will be in a state of shock," Lara said. "We lost against England and this hasn't happened for 36 years so the guys are really hurting. We really have to regroup, get it together and get it going in Antigua."
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