Trent Bridge, England

England’s Test captain, Ben Stokes, was surprised yet happy to learn that Shoaib Bashir is the youngest English bowler to take a five-for in a home Test, surpassing bowling great James Anderson. 

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Bashir was all over the West Indies team in the fourth innings in Nottingham, picking his third five-wicket haul in only his fifth Test, helping England win the second Test by 241 runs. With this win, they clinched the three-match series (2-0) and climbed to the sixth spot on the World Test Championships (WTC) standings.

Bashir picked five for 41 in the second innings, derailing West Indies' momentum after a steady start. From 61/0 to 82/5, the West Indies batters fell flat, courtesy of some classy off and top spin by the 20-year-old. 

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The touring side, which showed heart in the first inning by completing their first 400-plus score in Tests in a long time, got all out on 143, surrendering to Bashir’s brave spell.

"Bash showed the world what he's about today, on a wicket that wasn't necessarily offering too much for spin throughout the whole game," Stokes said at the post-match presentation. "The ability he had to be able to change his pace, change his line, and manipulate how he wanted the ball to react out of the surface was top-class."

Meanwhile, Bashir made his Test debut during the away India tour earlier this year and picked two five-fors then. Although he was part of the first Test at the Lord’s against WI – also Anderson’s farewell Test, he didn’t bowl a single over. 

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England climb on WTC Standings

With the win in Trent Bridge, England rose to the sixth spot on the WTC standings, ahead of South Africa, Bangladesh and West Indies, with a PCT of 31.25.

A 241-run win in the second Test is their fifth win in 12 Tests in this WTC cycle, with ten matches remaining, including the third and final one of the series in Birmingham starting July 26. 

The England Team will next host Sri Lanka for three Tests before travelling to Pakistan for as many matches in October. England will then travel to New Zealand for another three-match series, aiming to finish in the top two for the first time.

The third WTC Final will take place at the Lord’s next year.

(With inputs from agencies)