Mark Wood (Source:Twitter)
England pace sensation Mark Wood was ruthless in the morning session of the third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston. In the 25th over of the game, Wood knocked off the middle stump of Kirk McKenzie with an absolute ripper. The 34-year-old bowled a full-length delivery that swung back, leaving the batter puzzled. McKenzie tried to defend it late but his bat was nowhere close as the ball uprooted the middle stump off the ground.
Wood was elated with the wicket as his teammates congratulated him in delight. West Indies were looking strong with the bat at one point but back-to-back three dismissals put them on the back foot. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite has been the pillar but he hasn’t received much support from the other end. The other opener Mikyle Louis started the day well but fell to Gus Atkinson, who picked up two wickets in the morning.
He dismissed Louis for 26 and later picked up the wicket of Alick Athanaze for two runs, as West Indies were 97/3 after the first session. The skipper needs to play a captain’s knock to bail the team out of danger while a lot of focus will be on England spinner Shoaib Bashir, who has been terrific for the Three Lions in the ongoing series.
Check out the viral moment here:
Why look for the outside edge…
When you can take middle stump out the ground! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ojiqBtWgXF
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 26, 2024
England aiming to whitewash West Indies by winning third Test
England are currently leading 2-0 and have already sealed the series but are leaving no stone unturned to get the job done in the third Test to improve their ranking in the ongoing World Test Championship. The Ben Stokes-led side is currently sixth on the table and if everything goes well, they can still make it to the finals but the road for the same is extremely difficult.
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For now, Zak Crawley will be hoping to get some runs as he has had a horrid time in the series. England bowlers would hope to wrap things up early but West Indies batters can’t be counted out, given how well they performed in the first innings of the second Test.