Stokes hits record half-century as England beat West Indies in third Test

Ben Stokes clubbed the fastest 50 in England Test history (57*) as the home side swept to victory over West Indies with 10 wickets in hand at Edgbaston on day three of the third Test.

Chasing 81 for victory, Stokes and Ben Duckett (25*) smashed 15 boundaries in 7.2 overs to complete a dominant three-Test series sweep.

Stokes brought up his 50 with a big six in the penultimate over before smashing another to seal the win. The rapid half-century off 27 balls eclipsed Ian Botham’s 28-ball innings against India in 1981.

At 151-5 at lunch, with a 57-run lead, things had looked relatively stable for West Indies, but Mark Wood ran through the tail.

A tidy 5-40 from Wood ensured a modest target for England to chase in the fourth innings, particularly after the removal of the stubborn Kavem Hodge for 55.

The balance swung on a vicious spell from Wood as he took five wickets for seven runs in 21 deliveries.

While there was never much danger of England throwing away victory from that point, Stokes’ confident innings removed any jeopardy.

The fourth innings was a classic of the Bazball genre in miniature. From Stokes’ aggressive decision to move himself up the order in place of the injured Zak Crawley, to the beautifully distributed boundaries struck to all parts of the ground.

Wood, speaking after being named player of the match, revealed the influence of Jimmy Anderson’s guidance in his superb afternoon spell.

He said: “I was a bit down on myself at lunchtime. Jimmy had a great chat with me, focussing on the skill side of things rather than the outcome. That changed my mindset a little bit. The first wicket gave me a lot of confidence and from there I just let them fly.”

Speaking on BBC Test Match Special, Phil Tufnell had a familiar verdict for the tourists. He said: “The West Indies spluttered into life occasionally. Decent passages of play, but Test cricket is about whether you can sustain that session after session and they couldn’t do that. Very inexperienced, but they’ll grow from this.”

England coach Brendon McCullum spoke his pride in the new generation of players emerging in this series victory.

He said: “When you’re running a cricket team, you’re looking to nip and tuck along the way and there’s guys who’ve got skillsets who we thought would work on the international stage and complement what we already have. That’s no slight on those who’ve gone before – but these guys have stood up. We wanted to introduce guys who we thought had high ceilings and in [Shoaib] Bashir and [Gus] Atkinson I think we’ve seen that. I think this series has been a step forward for us.”

With Anderson having , this series may be remembered too for the emergence of Atkinson, who finished as the leading wicket taker with 22.