Barely a week ago, a former England great didn’t mince his words when he termed the current West Indies outfit as the “worst cricket side in the history” after the visitors were thrashed within three days at Birmingham in the pink ball affair. Little did he know, that the very “worst side” would stun England and shatter all expectations to chase a daunting 322 in the fourth innings of the second Test, right on the final day.
For England, conducting an excessive analytical piece wouldn’t be of any use. Rather, fans should simply applaud West Indies for their grit, determination and sheer audacity to go for a win on the last day, rather than looking for a fighting draw.
However, the only aspect where England lagged was in catching. Time and again, the hosts were guilty of dropping sitters, one even in the wee hours of the final day, by Alastair Cook, when West Indies were still 36 runs adrift.
Skipper Joe Root too echoed similar concerns post the game.
“Great Test match but not great to be part of a losing side,” said Root. “Shai Hope played exceptionally well – the fifth day against high-quality bowlers. It didn’t surprise me. We could have been a lot better in the first innings. I am proud that we could afford to come back, declare and try for a win.”
“It’s nice to look back in hindsight and see how things could have worked differently. But to be brutally honest, we weren’t good enough with the bat. Dropped catches has probably cost us but as I said, we fought extremely hard to get into that position. For a long time, the newbies have been behind the eight ball,” Root added.
Root was quick to defend his decision of declaring late on the fourth day and going for the kill, rather than playing the waiting game.
“I think the declaration was a positive thing, and we were in a position where we could do that. We have to learn and keep moving forward.”