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West Indies vs England, 2nd Test at St George's, , Apr 21 2015 - Ball by Ball Commentary

RESULT
2nd Test, St George's, April 21 - 25, 2015, England tour of West Indies
299 & 307
(T:143) 464 & 144/1

England won by 9 wickets

Player Of The Match
182*
joe-root
New
ENG 2nd Innings
Full commentary

Alastair Cook "Most important thing is the win. Took a lot of effort on that wicket. It was a great effort, the attitude, character and a lot of skill. Once we got one wicket we felt it would be testing for West Indies. Credit to Jimmy, that was an outstanding spell. I can't fault the lads over the five days. To be on the good end is fantastic. The way Rooty played, and Gary, they are taking run-making to a new level for England. You can always improve but the lads were brilliant. I want to thank all the fans, it means so much to the guys, and our friends and family."

And that just about wraps things up for today. Thanks for joining us over the last five days. To England the spoils, now on to Barbados. We'll be back for that on May 1. For now, though, from Gnasher, Alex and Alan it's goodbye.

Denesh Ramdin "We fought hard for four days, but that one session cost us the Test. That spell from James Anderson took it away from us. Brathwaite batted well and if he could have carried on. It's hard to take, but well done to England. They had some conditions in their favour on the first day, then the pitch got better." Says Holder has a "slight injury."

Presentation time...Man of the Match is Joe Root. It's a batsman's game. He played superb, but James Anderson won this game today. Anyway. "Certainly feels a lot better with the win behind us," Root says. "We've been ruthless today. Great to take forward for the rest of the series and the summer. I just try to be busy from the off. I want to be greedy, as well. Graham Gooch taught us about daddy hundreds. To win Tests you have to bat big."

England win by nine wickets. Punch of the air from Ballance, calm satisfaction on the face of Cook - then he salutes the dressing with his bat and grabs a stump. Bit of emotion in that, and why not from the England captain. The odds favoured the draw at the start of today, but England produced a wonderful day's cricket. Led by James Anderson, who was outstanding in the morning session, then finished off by this pair of batsmen. England's first overseas win since Kolkata in November 2012. At the moment of victory, Ben Stokes offered a salute to Ottis Gibson in the dressing room. I'll stay with you for the presentations shortly.

41.1
4
Samuels to Ballance, FOUR runs

and there it is! Ballance gets the winning runs with another cut behind point. Job done.

end of over 413 runs
ENG: 140/1CRR: 3.41 
Alastair Cook59 (121b 8x4)
Gary Ballance77 (125b 7x4 2x6)
Kraigg Brathwaite 5-1-9-0
Marlon Samuels 12.2-1-50-0
40.6
Brathwaite to Cook, no run

pushed into covers

40.5
Brathwaite to Cook, no run

forward and blocks, he doesn't want to give it away

40.4
1
Brathwaite to Ballance, 1 run

wide outside off, helped to deep point

40.3
2
Brathwaite to Ballance, 2 runs

full outside off, bisects two men at cover and is wide of long off

40.2
Brathwaite to Ballance, no run

defended to cover

40.1
Brathwaite to Ballance, no run

spins away outside off, left alone

end of over 407 runs
ENG: 137/1CRR: 3.42 
Gary Ballance74 (121b 7x4 2x6)
Alastair Cook59 (119b 8x4)
Marlon Samuels 12.2-1-50-0
Kraigg Brathwaite 4-1-6-0

One blow away now for England

39.6
1
Samuels to Ballance, 1 run

gets inside the line and tucks this into square leg

39.5
Samuels to Ballance, no run

defended to cover

39.4
6
Samuels to Ballance, SIX runs

picked up from outside off and slog-sweeps powerfully over deep midwicket for his second six

39.3
Samuels to Ballance, no run

prodded out to cover

39.2
Samuels to Ballance, no run

quicker ball outside off, left alone

39.1
Samuels to Ballance, no run

dead-batted back to the bowler

end of over 394 runs
ENG: 130/1CRR: 3.33 
Alastair Cook59 (119b 8x4)
Gary Ballance67 (115b 7x4 1x6)
Kraigg Brathwaite 4-1-6-0
Marlon Samuels 11.2-1-43-0
38.6
Brathwaite to Cook, no run

back on a full length and defended to point

38.5
4
Brathwaite to Cook, FOUR runs

dragged down short and this time he puts it away as he pulls through midwicket

38.4
Brathwaite to Cook, no run

tries to sweep this from outside off, there's some spin, he doesn't make contact and a good take from Ramdin

38.3
Brathwaite to Cook, no run

bat and pad together, into the off side

38.2
Brathwaite to Cook, no run

pushed to cover

38.1
Brathwaite to Cook, no run

on off stump, defended

end of over 38Maiden
ENG: 126/1CRR: 3.31 
Gary Ballance67 (115b 7x4 1x6)
Alastair Cook55 (113b 7x4)
Marlon Samuels 11.2-1-43-0
Kraigg Brathwaite 3-1-2-0

Bob Gardiner: "Sutcliffe, Hutton and Ballance, all Yorkshire players. There must be something good in the waters of Headingley :)" Don't get them started

37.6
Samuels to Ballance, no run

driven into his boot and down the pitch