39
SUNDAY CHRONICLE, January 27, 2019
Chase takes 8 for 60 to wrap up crushing Windies victory BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Off-spinner Roston Chase’s career-best eight-wicket haul propelled a dominant West Indies to their second largest win ever over England, as they crushed the hapless visitors by 381 runs inside four days of the opening Test, to take a shock 1-0 lead in the three-match series here yesterday. The 26-year-old bowled brilliantly to take eight for 60 – the second-best performance ever by a West Indies bowler against England – as the tourists, chasing an improbable 628 for victory, crumbled meekly for 246, three quarters of an hour after tea at Kensington Oval. Resuming the day on 56, with survival as the only realistic option, left-handed opener Rory Burns led the initial resistance with a top score of 84 while all-rounder Ben Stokes chipped in with 34 and Jonny Bairstow got 30. Jos Buttler (26) and captain Joe Root (22) got starts but England never came to grips with Chase on a wearing track, especially after
lunch, when they lost four critical wickets in a damaging slide. They had looked in good stead at lunch on 134 for two but the decline in the second session saw them lose their last eight wickets for 112 runs, handing the hosts their third-largest Test victory in terms of runs. The day had started brightly when Burns and Keaton Jennings (14) extended their opening stand to 85, to keep the Windies without any immediate success in the morning session. Burns scored quickly, punching 15 fours off 133 balls in just under 3-¼ hours at the crease, while Jennings opted for defence as his approach, in his boundary-less nearly 2-¼ hour stay at the crease. Approaching the first hour, West Indies got the breakthrough when fast bowler Alzarri Joseph got Jennings to drive at a fulllength delivery and edge a catch high to Jason Holder’s left at second slip. Burns then put on another 49 for the second wicket with the fluent Bairstow, in a stand
which appeared to be taking England safely to lunch. But Chase breached Burns’ loose forward defensive stroke and bowled him between bat and pad with the penultimate delivery before the interval. The real drama, however, started almost immediately following the resumption. Off the third ball, captain Joe Root fended off a lifter from speedster Shannon Gabriel to second slip where Holder took the gentle lob, but television replays showed the bowler had overstepped. Undaunted, Gabriel struck in his next over when he got Bairstow to glove one through to wicketkeeper Shai Hope, who was deputising for the injured Shane Dowrich. Root made little of his reprieve when he departed on the stroke of the first hour after lunch, steering Chase to Darren Bravo at slip at 167 for four. England then resisted through a 48-run fifth-wicket stand between Stokes and Buttler, the former playing positively in an attempt to transfer England’s pressure.
FROM BACK PAGE
Victory – a glimpse of ... “They really turned up, they kept their focus. What we looked to do strategically, they did. I think that’s all credit to Jason and how he led the team and the boys.” England resumed the final day on 56 without loss in search of an improbable 628 for victory, and reached lunch on 134 for two. However, four wickets tumbled in the second session as they lost their last eight wickets for 112 runs to be dismissed for 246 in their second innings. Part-time off-spinner Roston Chase spearheaded the hosts’ attack, snatching eight for 60 in a brilliant 21-over spell as only opener Rory Burns with 84 showed any resistance before falling in the final over before lunch. “He (Chase) was won-
derful today. I just think the pressure created by the bowling unit was great,” Pybus explained. “You have four good quick bowlers. Roston bowled exceptionally well, his control was good, (there were) good fields, (he) built up a huge amount of pressure throughout the day and just his control and consistency. That will give him a huge amount of confidence going forward.” He added: “I think collectively as a unit they complemented each other, managed to put together good waves of pressure. Interestingly on the fourth day we thought it would go up and down a little more than it did. “But the quicks were good and I just think that the amount of pressure that was built up – I don’t want to say
Roston didn’t bowl well; he bowled exceptionally well – but when you’ve got pressure from both ends it’s pretty tough for the batters.” West Indies entered the Test with a cloud of controversy hanging over them following the controversial naming of Pybus as interim head coach. His appointment led to public bickering between Cricket West Indies directors and a call from one for the decision to be rescinded. But Pybus said the issue never made its way into the team unit so there was no need to get players focussed. “We just got on with it. It wasn’t a discussion; we knew what we wanted to do. I think the noise was outside – it certainly wasn’t inside,” he said.
Stokes went after Chase with a boundary to long-on before clearing the ropes at long-off in the same over. But Chase struck two key blows in the last 13 minutes before tea, when he first trapped Stokes lbw then had Moeen Ali caught at second slip by Holder, as he drove at the penultimate ball before the break. Tottering on 217 for six at the break, England were staring down the barrel and Chase duly performed the final rites, as he took the last four wickets for the addition of only 29 runs. With his first ball of the second over following the resumption, he claimed Buttler to an excellent catch by debutant John Campbell at short mid-wicket, to complete his second five-wicket haul in Tests. In his next over, Chase got his sixth wicket when Ben Foakes’ attempted sweep found Shimron Het-
SCOREBOARD WEST INDIES 1st innings 289 ENGLAND 1st innings 77 WEST INDIES 2nd innings 415-6 decl. ENGLAND 2nd innings (target: 628 runs) (overnight 56 for two) R. Burns b Chase 84 K. Jennings c Holder b Joseph 14 J. Bairstow c wkp. Hope b Gabriel 30 J. Root c Bravo b Chase 22 B. Stokes lbw b Chase 34 J. Buttler c Campbell b Chase 26 M. Ali c Holder b Chase 0 B. Foakes c Hetmyer b Chase 5 S. Curran stp. Hope b Chase 17 A. Rashid c Brathwaite b Chase 1 J. Anderson not out 4 Extras: (b-4, w-3, nb-2) 9 Total: (all out, 80.4 overs) 246 Fall of wickets: 1-85, 2-134, 3-143, 4-167, 5-215, 6-217, 7-218, 8-228, 9-234. Bowling: Roach 14-3-58-0, Gabriel 16.5-2-55-1, Holder 12-6-24-0, Chase 21.4-2-60-8, Joseph 12-4-35-1, Campbell 3.4-0-10-0.
myer’s lap at short leg, for five runs, and Adil Rashid (1) holed out to Kraigg Brathwaite at deep mid-wicket in the bowler’s next over,
to put England on the brink. The next Test starts at Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in Antigua next Thursday.