Nottingham, UK: England’s spinner Shoaib Bashir gave one of the best performances in the second Test against West Indies taking his side to the victory to give the side the series win with the final match in the series still to be played. Bashir caused the downfall of the West Indies team as he took five wickets, to ensure a chase of 385 was cut short at 143. The hosts went on to claim this victory at Nottingham which made it impossible for the Australians to come back in to the series as the England side progressed to 2-0 lead in the three match series.
West Indies had reached a comfortable position receiving an advantage in the first innings by 41 runs by making 457 after they bowled out England for 416. But a splendid show with the willow by England batsmen especially Brook in the second innings and Root made a target of 385 runs commendable. West Indies’ chances were cut short by Bashir’s wonderful bowling.
After the end of the match, Bashir remarked satisfaction in his performance by claiming five wickets, but the bowler was not satisfied with his first innings bowling that let in 108 runs without taking two wickets. His mantra revolved around his focus on enhancing his line and length while providing lusty blows to the Windies’ onslaught, Stokes acknowledged and appreciated while fretting over the team’s worrying inability to stitch together reigning world champions West Indies.
Bashir also discussed various difficulties in bowling in England commenting that he has an extra advantage because of his tall stature adding extra pace to the surface. ‘It comes in handy’, he said in defense of the extra bounce ‘when you place the ball in certain areas you get a few to bounce and a few to skid on’.
Thus, Bashir’s path to the power has been a relatively short one. Having been let go by Surrey while still in age-group cricket he signed a county deal with Somerset he then came to the notice of the England selectors one of his videos on Instagram. He played his first international cricket in India in the earlier this year and set a new record as the young bowler in English cricket to take a Test Match five wicket haul.
England is set to tour Australia for the Ashes series in 2025-26 and Bashir height and extract release points make him an asset. However, he is a professional so he does not get carried away; he takes things as they come and most importantly gets to progress.
The win was thorough by English standards and could have been concluded latest by the fourth day’s play. In the second Test match West Indies won the toss and decided to bowling first. England batted first and made a strong total of 416 for the first time through the CENTURY by Ollie Pope and the fifties by BEN DUCKETT AND BEN STOKES. Alzarri Joseph was economical and proved again and again why he is one of the premier bowlers in the West Indies.
In reply West Indies were all out for 457 through a come back through Alick Athanaze’s score of 225, Kavem Hodge’s innings of 90 and the final partnership of 84 between Joshua da Silva and Shamar Joseph. But in their second essay, Root and Brook made big hundreds which put the chase on the impossible side.
A spirited effort to chase it down was made by West Indies, but they lost their way at some stage, especially when Bashir struck. England now yearns for series sweep in the final Test in Birmingham, which gets under way on Friday.
Report By: Sonali Sarkar