Read all about England victory against Brian Lara's West Indies team in 2004.
England vs West Indies 2004
We’ve had some memorable moments and Test Matches at Edgbaston, and coming in at number three of the best England performances is the 256 runs victory against Brian Lara and West Indies in 2004. England were full of confidence after their victory at Lords in the first match of the series and knew they would retain the Wisden Trophy with a victory at Edgbaston.
Ashley Giles was one of the 2002 Test stars taking 5-57 and a stunning match haul of 9-122, to add to his 9-210 in the first Engalnd Test victory at Lord’s. Giles became the first English spinner since Tony Lock in 1958 to get at least nine wickets in two successive Tests.
England won the toss and elected to bat with Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss opening the batting. England got off to a great start with Trescothick in particular playing some outstanding shots as England reached 50 in just 10.2 overs. England continued to pile on the runs with Marcus Trescothick scoring a superb 105 of 182 balls, which included 19 fours. There was more to come with Andrew Flintoff playing probably one of the best innings of his career at Edgbaston as he smashed the West Indian bowlers all over the ground. This was a fine display of aggressive cricket that bowlers Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Jermaine Lawson and Omari Banks simply could not cope with.
Freddie scored 167 of just 191-balls which included 17 fours and 7 sixes – it was a masterclass with the bat that the Edgbaston crowd had the privilege to see. Eventually, England were bowled out for a massive total of 566 runs with Dwayne Bravo being the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 76.
The West Indies were chasing a monstrous total and would their need star players Gayle, Lara, Sarwan and Chanderpaul to score big runs very quickly if they would have any chance in this Test Match.
It didn’t start well for the visitors with both Smith and Gayle falling early leaving the West Indies at just 12-2. Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan were under pressure, but they batted on superbly to dig West Indies out of a huge hole. Sarwan scored 139 and Lara added 95 runs to take West Indies to a respectable 221-3 before the third wicket fell.
The West Indian batsmen were unable to sustain the resolve of Lara and Sarwan and were eventually bowled out for 336 a massive 230 runs behind England’s first innings total. However, England didn’t have it all their own way and they lost the wickets of Strauss, Key and Vaughan in the second innings and were just 52-3 when the third wicket fell.
Day began with England on 148-3 and looking for quick runs to add to their imposing total of 378, and Marcus Trescothick and Graham Thorpe wasted no time in getting some momentum going. Trescothick moved to 96 with a cover-drive for four off Gayle and a similar shot off the quick bowler Jermaine Lawson brought him his century. Trescothick was the first man in 40 Edgbaston Tests to record tons in both innings of a match. However before the first half-hour was out, Trescothick had departed, beaten by a direct hit from the deep by Ramnaresh Sarwan as he dived for the crease.
Lawson and Gayle bowled the whole of the first session unchanged and between them they then managed to bowl out the rest of the home team. Thorpe hit two consummate fours in one Lawson over but was then stumped off Gayle for 54. Lawson bowled Geraint Jones through the gate, and Andrew Flintoff, after offering a mere glimpse of his attacking prowess with a six and a four off Lawson, gave Gayle his second wicket of the morning with a lobbed catch to mid-wicket. The spinner then added to his tally by polishing off the tail with the wickets of Giles, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard for a Test-best haul.
West Indies did not make the best of starts as they began an almost impossible run chase. Hoggard had Devon Smith caught at first slip cheaply, and Ashley Giles added the vital scalps of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brian Lara. Sarwan came tentatively forward to offer a bat-pad chance to silly point, gleefully accepted by a leaping Andrew Strauss.
Lara was ajudged, perhaps wrongly, to have got an inside edge on a drive which went off his pad straight to first slip. Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul put on 71 for the fourth wicket before the left-handed Chanderpaul was given out lbw to Giles soon after tea, playing no shot outside the off stump.
The floodgates were open and the collapse duly ensued. Dwayne Bravo was clean bowled by Giles for the second time in the match, Gayle gave a bat-pad catch off the same bowler, and Hoggard added the wickets of Ridley Jacobs and Pedro Collins. Finally, Anderson returned for a second spell to clean up Corey Collymore and Lawson, both bowled, and the familiar celebrations could start.
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