England captain Ben Stokes on Sunday hailed fast bowler Mark Wood for showing “the heart of a lion” after his side routed the West Indies by 10 wickets in the third Test at Edgbaston to complete a 3-0 series whitewash.
Wood polished off the tail with a thrilling spell of 5-9 in six overs to finish with 5-40 in 14 as the West Indies were dismissed for 175 in their second innings.
That left England needing just 82 to win, with Stokes — opening in place of the injured Zak Crawley — smashing a 24-ball fifty as he broke Ian Botham’s record for the quickest Test half-century by an England batsman of 28 balls against India in Delhi that had stood since 1981.
Photo: Reuters
However, Stokes preferred to heap praise on Durham teammate Wood after the 35-year-old express quick, unlucky to take just two wickets during England’s win in the second Test at Trent Bridge last week, was properly rewarded for a potent post-lunch spell in Birmingham.
All the traits of a modern top-class fast bowler were on show as Wood — whose career has been blighted by injuries — mixed bouncers with full-length deliveries that flattened the stumps, while repeatedly threatening the outside edge with reverse swing.
“It was an amazing spell,” Stokes said. “He’s got the heart of a lion and that’s exactly what you want as a captain.”
“The skill and the X-factor he has... It looked like he was going to take a wicket every ball,” Stokes said. “Not only was it fast but it was extremely skilful and came at a time when I sensed it was time to blow them away.”
As for his batting exploits, which eventually took left-handed batsman Stokes to 57 not out off 28 balls, including nine fours and two sixes, the 33-year-old all-rounder said: “I was always going to go out there and try to be ultra-positive. At a certain stage it was just about trying to hit every ball for four or six.”
“Once one hit the middle I was like, yeah I might as well have a crack,” Stokes said. “I genuinely didn’t know about the record.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that