West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel plundered five wickets as they scored a stunning victory by bowling out Pakistan for 81 on the final day of the second Test in Barbados on Thursday.
The competition at the top promises to gain momentum as World No 2 Ben Stokes has also made huge gains to attain a career-best tally of 431 points, narrowing the lead from 66 to 54 points.
West Indies coach Phil Simmons says his side cannot afford the batting debacles that have often undermined their tours of England when the series starts behind closed doors next week. The first of three Tests begins at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton next Wednesday and Simmons says making sure they are mentally ready is the most important task.
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between India and the West Indies in Antigua.
The West Indies bowling could have been taken to the cleaners, but the skipper hit only 10 fours in his knock -- significantly less than Shaw's 19 boundaries and Pujara's 14 hits.
India have endured series losses in South Africa and England over the last nine months but have still managed to remain the number one side in the longest format.
Stuart Broad scored the joint third fastest Test 50 for England off just 33 balls as he helped England to fight back
England captain Alastair Cook scored his first Test century in almost two years but lost his wicket in the final over of the day as the tourists ended the first day of the third Test against the West Indies on 240 for seven.
Rahane fell short of the three-figure mark again when he was bowled by paceman Shannon Gabriel
Umesh climbs to 25th in ICC Test rankings after becoming only the third Indian fast bowler to claim a 10-wicket Test haul on home soil.
Darren Bravo scored an enterprising century as West Indies rallied from a poor start to reach the final of the triangular one-day international series with a commanding 100-run victory over South Africa in Barbados on Friday.
Temperamentally poles apart, a cavalier Pant and a composed Ajinkya Rahane eventually wrested the initiative back with a burgeoning 146-run partnership to guide India to 308-4 at stumps.
India crushed West Indies by an innings and 272 runs inside three days of the first Test in Rajkot to go 1-0 up in the two-match series on Saturday.
Images from Day 2 of the third and final Test between England and West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday.
Bangladesh collapsed to a 2-0 series defeat against West Indies, losing the second and final Test by 296 runs with a day to spare on Tuesday.
It will also be a milestone in the career of England's talisman Ben Stokes as he captains the side for the first time.
Captain Cook also hits form, strikes 125-run opening partnership with Trott -- England's first century opening stand since March 2013.
Joe Root struck an unbeaten 90 as he and Chris Woakes steered England to a four-wicket victory over West Indies in their second One-day international on Sunday.
Opener Dean Elgar struck his third Test century as South Africa rode their luck to finish the first day of the second Test against West Indies on 270 for two on Friday.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 2nd Test played between England and West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday.
Uncapped teenage fast bowler Alzarri Joseph will join the 13-member West Indies squad for the second Test against India starting in Kingston, Jamaica on July 30, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said. The 19-year-old Joseph has performed outstanding bowling feats for the U-19 side where he snared 13 wickets to lead West Indies to their World Cup title in Bangladesh. No other changes have been made to the Jason Holder-led squad which looked inexperienced against India's supremacy in the first game as they were thrashed by an innings and 92 runs.
Archer, who has played his junior cricket in the Caribbean and qualified to play for England only in April, is a familiar figure for the West Indies camp and it knows what the 24-year-old is capable of.
The West Indies cricket team on Monday departed from Antigua for their scheduled three-test tour of England as international cricket is finally set to resume. Two planes collected players from various islands in the West Indies earlier on Monday before they all took a private charter flight for the UK, which will reach Manchester on Tuesday.
Shikhar Dhawan has always had the uncanny knack of producing goods when the chips are down which he attributes to his 'big heart' and the 'backing' he has got from skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble.
Sri Lanka suffered a stunning batting collapse as they suffered a crushing 226-run defeat in the first Test against West Indies in Port of Spain.
Captain Virat Kohli compiled an unbeaten century to put India in a commanding position on the first day of the opening Test against West Indies in Antigua on Thursday. Kohli was on 143 at the close of play, his 12th Test century, as the visitors reached 302 for four.
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler compiled an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 124 to guide England to 231 for four at the close on Day 1 of the third Test against the West Indies in St Lucia.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne missed out on a maiden double hundred but his 238-run stand with fellow centurion Dinesh Chandimal set up Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 484 on day two against West Indies in the opening test at Galle on Thursday.
Virat Kohli cantered to his maiden double century in Tests as India cruised to 404 for 4 at lunch on day two of the series opener against the West Indies in North Sound, Antigua, on Friday.
An old-fashioned green-top pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound was certainly a mitigating factor in England's performance, especially early on when West Indies' four-pronged pace attack exploited the favourable conditions.
Young England batsman Zak Crawley believes Ben Stokes will have no trouble filling the captain's shoe in the absence if Joe Root as the all-rounder is already a "big leader" of the team. Root will miss the Test series opener against West Indies, which starts on Wednesday at the Ageas Bowl to attend the birth of his second child, handing over the captaincy duties to England's World Cup hero Stokes.
The flamboyant Chris Gayle is unlikely to get a farewell Test match against India after being overlooked in the 13-strong West Indies squad for the two-Test series, starting August 22 at North Sound, in Antigua.
Marlon Samuels was 50 not out, while Narsingh Deonarine was on 11, chasing New Zealand's 441, at stumps after rain delayed the start of play by 75 minutes and then washed out the entire middle session.
Gayle has been named in West Indies' 14-man squad for the three One-day International series (ODIs) against India.
West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo has said that the pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is a batting friendly where the bowlers need to be patient in order to get wickets.
Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
India thumped West Indies by 10 wickets inside three days to complete a 2-0 series sweep on Sunday after Umesh Yadav's stellar bowling effort set up their comprehensive victory in the and second and final Test.
Denied adequate preparation time in India, the West Indies would look to utilise all their resources when they take on Board President's XI
Ravichandran Ashwin produced a bowling masterclass to grab 7 for 83 as India recorded their biggest ever win outside the subcontinent by thumping the West Indies by an innings and 92 runs in the first Test at Antigua to take a morale-boosting 1-0 lead in the 4-match Test series on Sunday. It was Ashwin's first five-wicket haul outside the subcontinent.
A devastating spell from seam bowler James Anderson set England up for a nine-wicket triumph in the second test against West Indies on Saturday as the tourists went 1-0 up in the three-match series.
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