West Indies faces pivotal challenge in final Test against England at Edgbaston - Match Summary and Team History

Pride is at stake for West Indies in the third and final Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Down 2-0 following defeats by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s and by 241 runs at Trent Bridge, West Indies are desperate to avoid a clean sweep, having surrendered the Richards-Botham Trophy.

On an opening day of fluctuating fortunes today, England closed on 38 for three after West Indies, who won the toss, were bowled out for 282.

The leading contributors for West Indies were captain Kraigg Brathwaite (61), Jason Holder (59), and Joshua Da Silva (49).

Holder and Da Silva added 109 for the sixth wicket following a slide from 76 without loss to 115 for five.

In 10 Tests between England and West Indies at Edgbaston, West Indies have won four and lost three with the others drawn.

The West Indies victories were by an innings and 180 runs (1984), by seven wickets (1991), by an innings and 64 runs (1995), and by an innings and 93 runs (2000). They lost by 217 runs (1963), by 256 runs (2004), and by an innings and 209 runs (2017). The draws were in 1957, 1973, and 2012. (See below summarised scores of England-West Indies Tests at Edgbaston since 2000).

Jimmy Adams, now with the West Indies team as an assistant coach, was the captain in 2000 when they last triumphed at Edgbaston, with Nasser Hussain captaining England.

Adams top scored with 98 in a total of 397. His fellow Jamaican, fast bowler Courtney Walsh, had match figures of eight for 58 including five for 36 in the first innings.

The other players were Sherwin Campbell, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs, Curtly Ambrose, Franklyn Rose, and Reon King.

West Indies lost the five-Test series 3-1.

The 2004 series featured four Tests – all won by England under the captaincy of Michael Vaughan. Lara was the West Indies skipper.

In 2012, England captured the three-Test series 2-0. The captains were Andrew Strauss and Daren Sammy.

The final Test at Edgbaston was badly rain-hit with no play on the first, second and fifth day. Fast bowler Tino Best, batting at No. 11, scored a career-best 95 off 112 balls with 14 fours and one six in a record last wicket partnership of 143 with Denesh Ramdin, who made 107 not out.

The 2017 Test at the same venue was the first to be played as a day/night in England.

There were as many as eight Barbadians in the West Indies team – captain Jason Holder, Kraigg Brathwaite, Kyle Hope, his brother Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Kemar Roach, and Miguel Cummins. The other players were Kieran Powell, Jermaine Blackwood, and Alzarri Joseph.

It was the opening Test in the three-match series, which England, captained by Joe Root, triumphed 2-1.

Summarised scores of England-West Indies Tests at Edgbaston since 2000:

2000: Ist Test, June 15-17. West Indies won by an innings and 93 runs.

England 179 (69 overs) (Nick Knight 26, Darren Gough 23, Andy Caddick 21 not out, Mike Atherton 20, Mark Ramprakash 18, Robert Croft 18, Andrew Flintoff 16, Nasser Hussain 15; Courtney Walsh 5-36, Reon King 2-60) and 125 (58 overs) (Nick Knight 34, Darren Gough 23 not out, Mike Atherton 19, Andrew Flintoff 12; Courtney Walsh 3-22, Reon King 3-28, Jimmy Adams 2-5, Franklyn Rose 2-43).

West Indies 397 (136.5 overs) (Jimmy Adams 98 – 299 balls, 9 fours; Shivnarine Chanderpaul 73 – 119 balls, 11 fours; Sherwin Campbell 59 – 120 balls, 7 fours; Franklyn Rose 48, Curtly Ambrose 22; Darren Gough 5-109, Robert Croft 2-53, Andy Caddick 2-94).

Toss: West Indies. Player Of The Match: Courtney Walsh.

2004: 2nd Test, July 29-August 1. England won by 256 runs.

England 566/9 declared (134 overs) (Andrew Flintoff 167 – 191 balls, 17 fours, 7 sixes; Marcus Trescothick 105 – 182 balls, 19 fours; Gerant Jones 74 – 97 balls, 12 fours; Graham Thorpe 61 – 116 balls, 10 fours; Steve Harmison 31 not out, Rob Key 29, Andrew Strauss 24, Ashley Giles 24, Matthew Hoggard 15 not out, Michael Vaughan 12; Dwayne Bravo 4-76, Corey Collymore 2-126) and 248 (65.1 overs) (Marcus Trescothick 107 – 158 balls, 15 fours, 1 six; Graham Thorpe 54 – 89 balls, 7 fours; Andrew Flintoff 20, Ashley Giles 15; Chris Gayle 5-34, Jermaine Lawson 4-94).

West Indies 336 (91.3 overs) (Ramnaresh Sarwan 139 – 226 balls, 25 fours; Brian Lara 95 – 127 balls, 15 fours, 1 six; Shivnarine Chanderpaul 45, Dwayne Bravo 13; Ashley Giles 4-65, Matthew Hoggard 3-89, Andrew Flintoff 2-52) and 222 (55.3 overs) (Chris Gayle 82 – 102 balls, 15 fours, 1 six; Shivnarine Chanderpaul 43, Omari Banks 25 not out, Ramnaresh Sarwan 14, Brian Lara 13, Devon Smith 11, Corey Collymore 10; Ashley Giles 5-57, Matthew Hoggard 3-64, James Anderson 2-23).

Toss: England. Player Of The Match: Andrew Flintoff.

2012: 3rd Test, June 7-11. Match drawn.

West Indies 426 (129.3 overs) (Denesh Ramdin 107 not out – 183 balls, 9 fours; Tino Best 95 – 112 balls, 14 fours, 1 six; Marlon Samuels 76 – 114 balls, 10 fours, 1 six; Adrian Barath 41, Assad Fudadin 28, Kieran Powell 24, Daren Sammy 16, Sunil Narine 11; Graham Onions 4-88, Steven Finn 3-109, Tim Bresnan 3-111).

England 221/5 (58 overs) (Kevin Pietersen 78 – 81 balls, 11 fours, 1 six; Ian Bell 76 not out – 137 balls, 10 fours; Jonny Bairstow 18, Andrew Strauss 17, Jonathan Trott 17; Tino Best 2-37).

Toss: England. Player Of The Match: Tino Best.

2017: Ist Test (day/night), August 17-19. England won by an innings and 209 runs.

England 514/8 declared (135.5 overs) (Alastair Cook 243 – 407 balls, 33 fours; Joe Root 136 – 189 balls, 22 fours; Dawid Malan 65 – 139 balls, 10 fours; Jonny Bairstow 18, Ben Stokes 10; Roston Chase 4-113, Kemar Roach 2-86).

West Indies 168 (47 overs) (Jermaine Blackwood 79 not out – 76 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes; Kyle Hope 25, Kieran Powell 20, Shai Hope 15, Jason Holder 11; James Anderson 3-34, Toby Roland-Jones 2-31, Stuart Broad 2-47) and 137 (45.4 overs) (Kraigg Brathwaite 40, Roston Chase 24, Kyle Hope 12, Jermaine Blackwood 12, Kemar Roach 12, Kieran Powell 10; Stuart Broad 3-34, James Anderson 2-12, Toby Roland-Jones 2-18).

Toss: England. Player Of The Match: Alastair Cook.

Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (rebranded Elite in 2012) Championship for over four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org). Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com