File image of Olly Stone.© X (Twitter)

Uncapped English fast bowler Josh Hull will replace Mark Wood in the remaining two Test matches of the series against Sri Lanka after the 34-year-old suffered a right thigh muscle strain while bowling in the second innings of the Manchester Test, according to the ICC. Hull is a left-arm seamer, who recently featured in the England Lions fixture against Sri Lanka, and picked up five wickets at an average of 14.8. Wood had an exceptional start to his spell in the second inning, getting the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne off his first ball, but pulled out of his run-up in the 56th over, and left the field.

He didn’t bowl again in the game, which England eventually won by five wickets.

Recapping the first match of the series, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (74 in 84 balls, with eight fours) and Milan Rathnayake (72 in 135 balls, with six fours and two sixes) that pushed SL to 236/10.

Chris Woakes (3/32) and Shoaib Bashir (3/55) were the top bowlers for England.

Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle-order batters Joe Root (42 in 57 balls with four boundaries), Harry Brook (56 in 73 balls with four boundaries), and centurion Jamie Smith (111 in 148 balls, with eight fours and a six) helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs.

Ashitha Fernando (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka.

In their second innings, SL once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews (65 in 145 balls, with two fours and a six), and Dinesh Chandimal (79 in 119 balls, with seven fours) formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead. Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs.

Woakes and Matthew Potts (3/47) took three wickets each to lead England’s bowling charts.

In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root’s calm and composed half-century (62* in 128 balls with two fours) and solid contributions from Brook (32 in 68 balls, with three fours) and Smith (39* in 48 balls, with four boundaries and a six) took England to a five-wicket win.

England took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

England squad: Ollie Pope (C), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

Ben Stokes hit the fastest Test fifty by an England batsman as the hosts hammered the West Indies by 10 wickets to win the third Test at Edgbaston on Sunday. Set 82 to win, England finished on 87-0 in a mere 7.2 overs as they completed a 3-0 series whitewash of the West Indies in spectacular style and with more than two days to spare. England captain Stokes, opening in place of the injured Zak Crawley, needed just 24 balls to go to a fifty featuring nine fours and a six. He bettered the previous record quickest Test-match fifty by an England batsman of 28 balls set by Ian Botham against India at Delhi back in 1981.

Stokes then ended the match by pulling West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite‘s part-time spin for six to finish 57 not out.

Earlier, express fast bowler Mark Wood polished off the tail with a superb 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

West Indies opener Mikyle Louis, whose 57 was his maiden Test fifty, and Kavem Hodge (55) offered some resistance but the next highest score in the innings was 12 — a total shared by Alick Athanaze, Jason Holder and extras.

The tourists resumed on 33-2, still 61 runs behind an England first-innings 376, where Jamie Smith fell agonisingly short of a maiden Test century in making 95 while further fifties from Joe Root (87), Chris Woakes (62) and Stokes (54) helped the hosts recover from a collapse to 54-5.

Louis was 18 not out overnight, after being dropped by Stokes on nine, and Athanaze five not out.

Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir and Wood opened the bowling after the pair had teamed up to good effect during England’s 241-run win in the second Test at Trent Bridge.

Athanaze was soon lbw for 12 to the 20-year-old Bashir after missing a sweep.

But the West Indies did avoid the embarrassment of a second innings defeat in three Tests following an innings and 114-run loss in the series opener at Lord’s.

Louis, who only made his debut in that match, completed a maiden Test fifty in style when he slog-swept Bashir for six before he cleared the ropes again off the spinner.

But the 23-year-old fell soon afterwards when paceman Stokes drew him into edging a full-length ball to second slip.

Hodge, who made his maiden Test century at Trent Bridge, went to fifty in just 56 balls, including seven fours.

Wood strikes

But the West Indies, 151-5 at lunch, folded tamely as Wood ripped through the lower order.

Joshua Da Silva was plumb lbw before Alzarri Joseph had his stumps demolished by Wood after missing a drive.

Wood then roughed up opposing quick Jayden Seales with a bouncer before bowling him next ball for a duck with a fuller-length delivery — a classic one-two trick.

And the 34-year-old Wood, unlucky to take just two wickets in the whole of the second Test, ended the innings when he had Shamar Joseph well caught at second slip by Durham team-mate Stokes.

That might have been the end of Stokes’s involvement in normal circumstances but Crawley’s finger injury, suffered while dropping a slip catch earlier Sunday, was the cue for the left-handed batsman’s blistering assault.

Stokes thumped from Alzarri Joseph for fours through cover-point and deep square leg off successive balls in the first over of the chase, with the fast bowler conceding 23 runs in his opening two overs.

He then drove Jayden Seales on the up for four and struck Jason Holder back over the towering all-rounder’s head for yet another boundary to the delight of a capacity, sun-drenched crowd.

England vs West Indies Live Score 3rd Test Day 1© AFP

England vs West Indies 2nd Test Day 3: Live Score Updates© AFP

Mark Wood scripted history as he bowled the fastest recorded Test over by an England bowler at home during the ongoing day of the second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge here on Friday. Wood, who replaced retired pacer James Anderson in England’s playing 11, set the bar high in his first over as he wasted no time and clocked the speed of 93.9 mph (151.1 km/h) on the first delivery to opener Mikyle Louis. He bettered his it and clocked 96.1 mph (154.65 km/h) on the second ball, leaving the batter clueless. Wood continued his onslaught with deliveries at 95.2 mph (152.88 km/h) and 92.2 mph (148.06 km/h) before delivering a searing 96.5 mph (155.30 km/h) yorker on his fifth ball, which Louis managed to dig out for a single.

The 34-year-old England pacer ended the over with another fast delivery at 95.2 mph (153.20 km/h) to West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite, averaging 94.40 mph over six balls.

In his second over, Wood ramped up the heat with deliveries clocked at 95 mph (152 km/h), 93 mph (149.66 km/h), 95 mph (152 km/h), 96 mph (154.49 km/h), 97.1 mph (156.26 km/h), and 94 mph (151.27 km/h).

In the third Ashes Test at Headingley last year, the 34-year-old Wood raised the tempo when he reached blazing speeds of 91 mph, 93 mph, 95 mph, 93 mph, 94 mph, and 93 mph in an over. In the end, England prevailed by three wickets in the test.

Wood upped the ante when he hit a short delivery against Louis at 97.1 mph in his third over.

The 34-year-old is regarded as one of the world’s quickest bowlers across formats. In the Multan Test in 2022, he set the fastest Test delivery speed of 156.6 kmph against Pakistan.

In the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, which England won, Wood bowled the fastest delivery of the tournament, clocking 154.74 km/h against New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips in a Super 12 match. Wood dominated the top 10 fastest deliveries of the World Cup, with six of his balls exceeding 153 km/h.

Wood also set a record for the fastest T20 over in men’s cricket, averaging 149.02 kmph in a four-over spell against Afghanistan during the World Cup. Additionally, he bowled the fastest delivery of the 2019 ODI World Cup, reaching 154 km/h against New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls in the final at Lord’s.

ENG vs WI 2nd Test Day 2 LIVE© AFP

After their narrow loss to South Africa, England captain Jos Buttler admitted that his batters couldn’t match the big-hitting prowess of Proteas keeper-batter Quinton de Kock. England lost to South Africa by seven-run loss in their T20 World Cup Super Eight match in Gros Islet, St Lucia on Friday. De Kock slammed a 38-ball 65-run knock studded with four sixes and as many fours to power South Africa to 163 for six in 20 overs. In reply, England were restricted to 156/6, despite Harry Brooks’s 37-ball 53.

However, a huge controversy erupted when de Kock was controversially given not out by the third umpire.

The incident happened on the second ball of the ninth over after Mark Wood took, what it seemed like a regulation catch, at deep backward square leg.

De Kock pulled Adil Rashid‘s delivery but could only find Wood, who seemed to have taken a clean catch. De Kock, however, wasn’t convinced as he asked the on-field umpire to take the third umpire’s help.

The third umpire went through multiple replays before concluding that the ball had touched the ground, declaring de Kock as not out.

Watch the controversial moment here:

De Kock given not out! Whats your opinion? pic.twitter.com/cCzxsD50HY

— GoalsAndWickets (@GoalsnWickets) June 21, 2024

Speaking on the loss, Buttler said that de Kock’s innings was the “difference” between the two teams.

Quinton de kock thought it was the clean catch but third umpire gave not out #ENGvsSA pic.twitter.com/TAZOuKHq0g

— Lavesh Jain (@lavesh_jain10) June 21, 2024

Was Quinton De Kock Out or Not out ? pic.twitter.com/pBWxQazeSh

— Extra Cover (@_extracover_) June 21, 2024

Quinton de Kock Out or Not out…..!!#T20WorldCup #SAvsENG pic.twitter.com/EzeKyXygXn

— Cric Choice (@CricChoice) June 21, 2024

“I think the way Quinny played at the top sort of really put us under a lot of pressure and (he) played some great shots and we weren’t able to match that,” Buttler said during the post-match press conference.

“I think that was the difference in the game.”

“The tougher overs in the power play today were from the bottom end which de Kock really took on and took some risks and played well, so as I’ve mentioned, I felt like the power play was the difference in the game,” he said.

“I think the way Quinny could bat at the rate that none of us could bat at for — but like I say, yeah, we fought back brilliantly well with the ball and restricted a really strong line-up to what was about a par score probably.”

(With ANI Inputs)

England vs South Africa, T20 World Cup 2024 LIVE Updates© AFP

ENG vs NAM T20 World Cup 2024 LIVE Updates© X (formerly Twitter)