England Realize What To Do

It was just two months ago that England suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of West Indies after losing the first test by an innings and following it up with three drawn test matches. However, after facing this debacle, the England captain Andrew Strauss might have taken the opposition too seriously and never let off any chance of spoiling their party in the return series against the West Indies. This time, in the first test between the two nations, Andrew Strauss made up some mind to impose follow on and see the West Indies' batsmen crumble to the English bowling. Sad that England couldn't take home an innings win.

One can recall the 4-0 and 3-0 whitewashes by England over the West Indies exactly four years back when the West Indian team was led by Brian Lara. Anyway, that is a forgotten story altogether. This time, luck was not in favor of the West Indies team like last time where West Indies were lucky to win the first one any followed it up with three drawn test matches. No doubt that the West Indies team had scored 600+ when England put up a mammoth total for the West Indies to lead in the third test. And the only luck what the West Indies had was that they were left with ample time to chase down a 200+ target in the fifth.

West Indies were supposed to chase down some 200+ target in just about two sessions. Then, the day ended with the West Indies' score reading 113/8. However, no risk on the part of Andrew Strauss was expected whatsoever. Strauss' team just blasted the West Indies out of the tournament. The West Indies were nowhere in the game. First, England scored a decent if not a huge 377 on the board for which the West Indies' reply was some 223 runs lag. Then the West Indies showed some comparatively good batting by scoring 256 which just enough for the West Indies to avoid an innings defeat.

Finally, the west Indies were shown the way where they originally belonged to. Number 8 position just behind Bangladesh. The absence of Zimbabwe has taken a toll on the West Indies team for, they have lost out on an opportunity to win against any other team barring Bangladesh. The risk of imposing a follow on by the England captain indeed requires a pat on a back for, not all captains in the cricketing world do it especially against teams barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. With still one more test to go, the West Indies team can look out to level the series and retain the trophy it won just two months back.