In an unbelievable match when England beat West Indies by an innings and 39 runs on the second day of the fourth Test match at Headingley to take a 2 -1 lead in the five-Test series. Welcome to the memorable match between Eng v WI Fourth Test at Leeds in 2000. Andrew Caddick took 5 wickets, for 14 runs including four in six legitimate deliveries as West Indies already in big trouble at 49 for 5 slumped to a meager 61 runs all out. It was only the second time since World War II that a Test match had been won within 2 days.
The last time a test match was completed within two days was when Australia beat New Zealand by an innings and 103 runs at Wellington in 1945-46. Therefore, it was the first time a Test match in England had been won inside two days since Australia beat a powerful England side by 10 wickets at Trent Bridge in 1921. England must now be confident of recording their first series over the West Indies since they beat them 2-1 in England in 1969. The final test started at The Oval on August 31, 2000.
After Dominic Cork had bowled the tourists’ lynch-pin and Captain JC Adams for 19 off 43 balls including 2 fours, and Somerset fast bowler Andrew Caddick wrapped up the marvelous figures of 11.2-5-14-5 took over. West Indies wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs moved across his stumps and was given out lbw by the New Zealand umpire Doug Cowie for one run through the television replays showing the ball looked to be going down the leg-side.
Well, two balls later when fast bowler Nixon McLean had his off-stump knocked out for zero, and then big man Curtly Ambrose was yorked the first ball. Fast bowler Reon King avoided the hat-trick ball but to the 3rd ball, he was clean bowled by Andy Caddick.
Courtney Walsh was powerless to resist and was bowled by Caddick for three, sparking a mass pitch invasion, Ramnaresh Sarwan was 17 not out, the match finishing at 16:10 GMT. Fellow new-ball bowler, Yorkshire’s Darren Gough was also in superb form (10-3-30-4) taking four wickets for 12 runs including two in two balls. With the first ball of his third over, Darren Gough removed left-handed opener Adrian Griffith for a golden duck, the ball knocking his off-stump out of the ground. Next ball Wavell Hinds was caught on the crease, plumb Ibw and the tourists were three for two.
Brian Charles Lara came in with Darren Gough fully pumped up and on a hat-trick, but Lara pushed forward the length ball and survived. However, at two runs he offered no stroke and umpire Doug Cowie gave him out Ibw to leave the tourists 11 for 3 in the fifth over. Darren Gough had taken all three wickets for mere 5 runs in 10 balls adding to the delight of his loyal fans in a sell-out of 16,500 crowds.
This became four for eight in 29 when Sherwin Campbell on 12, got a defensive edge and was brilliantly caught by Graeme Hick at second slip, holding on despite third slip Graham Thorpe diving across his path. West Indies were now 21 for 4 and duo Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick had a scarcely unbelievable field of six slips and a gully.
Earlier in the day, there was added Yorkshire glory when Darren Gough’s teammate Michael Vaughan top-scored with a brilliant 76 runs off 132 balls including 7 fours, so far his best Test score. As England made 272 in the first innings took the lead of exactly 100 runs. Michael Vaughan, a 25-year-old batsman, who resumed on his overnight score of 6, faced 132 balls and struck seven fours, one of his strokes the best a textbook on-drive off Courtney Walsh.
However, any chance of a maiden Test century was ended by Ambrose with the second legitimate delivery with the new ball. Ambrose got Vaughan to edge to Jacobs, England 269 for nine. It was 2 fine efforts from Vaughan, who was born in Lancashire but moved to arch-rivals Yorkshire to foresee his career.
His previous best in Test cricket was 69 Earlier, Vaughan shared a seventh-wicket stand of 98 in 154 balls, with Graeme Hick, who justified his selection with a well-made 59 runs off 95 balls with 8 delightful boundaries. Worcestershire captain Graeme Hick recalled for the tenth time in a stop-start Test career, showed no signs of nerves facing 95 balls, striking eight fours including authoritative shots against Ambrose and Walsh as well as the lesser bowlers.
However, Hick lost concentration against West Indies captain Adams’s left-arm spin and was stumped by Jacobs attempting an indifferent defensive stroke. Then it was the turn of the Eng- land bowlers to earn their piece of glory against a West Indies side that hardly had time to digest this lightning defeat.
Craig White took his Test career-best of five for 57 and Ambrose reached 400 Test wickets to take center stage for England and West Indies, respectively, on an opening day. Craig White, who had a burst of three for six in 17 balls, combined with Darren Gough (3-59) and Dominic Cork (2-19) to fire out West Indies for 172 after they had won the toss. Ramnaresh Sarwan shone out like a beacon in an otherwise disappointing batting display, stroking an unbeaten 59 from 82 balls with nine fours.
He put on 68 with Ridley Jacobs for the sixth wicket in the highest stand of the innings. Ambrose, needing two more wickets to reach the 400 mark, sent back Eng- land openers Marcus Trescothick (1) and Michael Atherton (6) to become only the fifth bowler in Test cricket history to achieve the feat. After England reached 80 for two Walsh, the world’s leading wicket-taker seized the wickets of Captain Nasser Hussain, Thorpe, and Alec Stewart in a spell of three for eight in 28 balls late in the final session. It lifted his tally to 475 and left England on 105 for five at the close.
West Indies, undone by a mixture of fine bowling and ill-judged strokes, were all out 10 minutes before tea on the first day. They were five down for 60 in the 21st over, but then the collapse was halted by the sixth-wicket partnership of 68. Ridley Jacobs hit 35 runs by mixing fortuitous shots with authentic strokes.
Ramnaresh Sarwan completed his half-century from 77 deliveries and showed something of the young talent that marks him out as a batsman for the West Indies’ future. A wrist player with wonderfully timed shots, the innings by this 20-year-old right-hander from Guyana stood not out on 59 off 82 balls with the help of 9 delightful strokes didn’t wretched day for the West Indies paltry batting.
