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Two days and out England scores win vs. Windies not seen in 54 years
LEEDS, England (AP) -- England became the first team for 54 years to win a test match inside two days on Friday, bowling the West Indies out for just 61 to win the fourth test by an innings and 39 runs. Andrew Caddick grabbed four wickets in an over and finished off the innings with a fifth after Darren Gough had removed the first four batsman on his home field at Headingley. The West Indies, trailing by 100 runs, were bowled out for their fourth lowest ever score in just 26.2 overs. It was the first two-day victory since Australia beat New Zealand at Wellington in 1946. It was the 16th time a test had ended in two days and England' last such victory was when it beat South Africa by 10 wickets in 1912. It was also the first time in 75 tests England has beaten the West Indies by an innings since Te Oval's innings and 34-run win in 1966 under Brian Close. Star batsman Brian Lara scored only four and two in the match, each time getting out lbw without playing a shot while team captain Jimmy Adams played on to his stumps in both innings. It also was the second time the West Indies had been bowled out for under 100 in this series following the second innings 54 in the narrow two-wicket defeat at Lord's in June. Caddick emulated the effort of Englishman Chris Old's four wicket in an over against Pakistan in 1978 as he hurried England to victory before a light shower of rain. Pakistan's Wasim Akram was the last bowler to perform the feat, when he took 5-28 against the West Indies at Lahore in December 1990. Switching ends, Caddick took 5-5 in 15 balls as the West Indies lost the last six wickets for 12 runs in 38 balls. After trapping Ridley Jacobs leg before wicket, Caddick uprooted the stumps of Nixon McLean, Curtly Ambrose, Reon King and Courtney Walsh to complete the rout. "I think in the last two days we have been as good as we can be. It's unbelievable," said England captain Nasser Hussain. "The selection for this game was spot on and now we have to make sure we get it right for what's now the most important five days of the summer," he said looking forward to the fifth and final test at The Oval. "I was jut so pleased to win a quick game. "We batted really well all the way down against Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh and to get 270 on that wicket was brilliant. "It was swinging around today, so I just felt switching ends for Andy Caddick, keeping the swing bowlers on, did the trick. "When Darren Gough gets the new ball in his hand, he gives you absolutely everything. He gets good players out and that is what he did today." Earlier man-of-the-match Michael Vaughan and Graeme Hick hit 76 and 59 respectively to bolster England to a first innings 272. Friday's result means that England, which has not beaten the West Indies in a series for 31 years, takes a 2-1 lead into the final test at The Oval starting August 31. After Gough, 3-59, had helped fellow Yorkshireman Craig White, 5-57, to bowl out West Indies for a modest 172 in the first innings, the Yorkshire paceman, playing on his home ground, removed opener Adrian Griffith and Wavell Hinds with successive balls. Griffith was bowled for a first ball nought and Hinds, was trapped in front of the middle stump to a ball that kept marginally low. Lara thwarted Gough's hopes of a hat trick but two overs later padded up to a delivery without offering a shot and New Zealand umpire Doug Cowie adjudged the left hander leg before wicket. Yorkshireman Vaughan, like Gough and White, relishing the home-test atmosphere and cheered by the capacity 16,000 crowd, put England in the lead in the company of Hick. The seventh wicket pair added an invaluable 98 runs in 104 minutes and hit England out of trouble after Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh had reduced the home side to 124 for seven, just 27 minutes into the second morning. The partnership ended when skipper Jimmy Adams had Hick stumped by Ridley Jacobs after the English batsman had hit seven fours. Returning to the side at Lord's as a cover to the injured Nasser Hussain, Vaughan continued with his consistent batting form. Vaughan, who missed the first half of the season with a broken bone in his right hand, let Hick dominate the partnership. Ambrose and Walsh have shared the eight wickets claiming four wickets apiece. Their combined total in test cricket is now 878. Ambrose, who became the newest member of the 400-wicket club on Thursday, moved to 401 when he removed night watchman Caddick 27 minutes into the day. That brought in Hick in the unusual position of No. 8 to hit his highest score since scoring 101 against Zimbabwe in the first test of the summer. In the first test of the current series, the Zimbabwe-born Hick, bagged a pair at Edgbaston and was subsequently dropped for the third test at Old Trafford. Vaughan's three hours plus innings included seven boundaries and was the ninth out. He fell to the second new ball as second slip Campbell neatly caught him to give Ambrose the figures of 4-42 in 18 overs. Walsh finished the innings to claim 4-51. "Not being able to win the series is big enough a set back," Adams lamented. "From here on we can only aim to level. "It has been a real blow to the way we were planning things. We have to pick ourselves up and move onto the next test match. "The bottom line is consistency," Adams said. "We have to be collectively consistent in our batting, bowling and fielding. "It was a very important game we had here and we fell pretty well short of the mark."
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