West Indies defeated England by 10 wickets in the third and final Test of the series to take home the trophy. They also secured 12 points on the ICC WTC points table, taking them to seventh place.
The third Test saw a bit more spice in the pitch and the English batters crumbled spectacularly. They were down at 104/8 before a lower-order partnership between Jack Leach and Saqib Mahmood saw them get to 204.
This was nowhere close to enough but the English bowlers gave a tough fight. They had the Windies down at 95/6 before Joshua de Silva stuck around with the tail-enders to smash his maiden Test century.
Having secured a lead of 93 runs, it was upto the Englishmen to set a good target. Unfortunately, the typical England story continued as they were blown away for a paltry 120, setting a target of 26 which was chased down by the Windies openers.
However, Sir Curtly Ambrose worked as a commentator for the series. While in a Interview Ambrose said that the win over England means a lot to the Caribbean people after the lean patch they had in international cricket and he says there is a still a lot of work to be done.
“It (Beating England) means a lot not only for the team but for us as Caribbean people. We were spoiled, for many years we were the best team in the world, beating everybody. We’ve had some lean years. There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Ambrose said.
“Winning one game convincingly doesn’t mean we’ve turned the corner but it’s a step in the right direction. We’ve seen in times past when they get under pressure they tend to crumble. That didn’t happen this series,” he further added.
Curly Ambrose who took 405 Test wickets further said that the senior players in the team like Jason Holder, Kemar Roach and skipper Kraigg Brathwaite are leading the team in the right direction.
“We have guys like (pace bowler) Kemar Roach and (all-rounder) Jason Holder leading the way. They are great examples to follow.We put in a lot of work (in preparation and) it just carried through every game, someone else raising their hand and doing their job, the effort was remarkable,” Ambrose added.
The win extended West Indies’ home dominance over England in the past 50 years — eight wins and two draws in 11 series, with England’s only series victory coming in 2003-04.
The latest victory cannot disguise that West Indies were outplayed for much of the first two Tests in the series, and in the end were thankful to escape with draws on drab pitches.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite, the player of the series thanks largely to his batting in the second Test, where he made a marathon 160 before adding 56 not out, said his team had a good attitude and praised his young and old players alike.
Whether it was Nkrumah Bonner making a century in the first Test or Kyle Mayers taking 7-31 in the third, he said someone had always stepped up when the situation demanded.
“These are guys who are willing to learn,” he said.