2nd test goes to last day, England leads West Indies by 219
Manchester: West Indies collapsed from 227-4 at tea to 287 all out in the final session on Day 4, narrowly avoiding having to follow on in the second cricket test against England on Sunday.
England was 37-2 in its second innings at stumps with a lead of 219 runs. Kemar Roach (2-14) claimed both wickets as the West Indies pacer bowled promoted opener Jos Buttler (0) and Zak Crawley (11).
Ben Stokes, who opened in a test match for the first time as England sought quick runs, is on 16 and Joe Root on 8.
Although not without any danger, an early declaration is expected Monday for England to have any chance of winning the three-test series.
West Indies took the opener by four wickets in Southampton, the first cricket test to be played since the global coronavirus outbreak.
Half-centuries by Kraigg Brathwaite (75) and Shamarh Brooks (68) had kept England at bay until the evening session. The game moved England's way when Stuart Broad trapped Brooks leg before wicket, bowled Jermaine Blackwood (0) and claimed Shane Dowrich (0) in another lbw dismissal as part of a fiery new ball spell.
Fast-medium Chris Woakes claimed the last three wickets, starting with West Indies captain Jason Holder (2). He was caught by his England counterpart Root as West Indies slumped to 260-8 in its first innings, still needing 10 runs to avoid the follow on after England's 469-9 declared.
But Roston Chase (51) hit Sam Curran (2-70) for a couple of boundaries to avoid his team having to follow on before he was the ninth batter out, leg before to Woakes.
Broad finished with 3-66 and Woakes 3-42.
England, seeking quick wickets to revive its hopes of victory after the entire third day was washed out by rain, had broken through just three times in the day's first two sessions.
Opener Brathwaite played a part in half-century stands with Alzarri Joseph (32), Shai Hope (25) and Brooks before falling caught and bowled to Stokes.
Curran's off-cutter dismissed Hope for 25 soon after lunch to give England a glimmer of hope it could take control of the second session. It didn't happen because of the application of Brathwaite and Brooks.
The home team's only breakthrough of the morning came when spinner Dom Bess had success with his second ball to remove Joseph.
West Indies had resumed on 32-1 in reply to England's first innings which saw 120 from opener Dom Sibley and 176 from Stokes.
But the weather on Saturday set England back and the West Indies batting was solid until tea on Sunday.
Joseph was caught one-handed at short leg by Ollie Pope off Bess for that first wicket before lunch. Curran tempted Hope outside off-stump and produced an edge behind to Buttler.
England tried the short-ball tactic after lunch and Stokes finally had some reward when Brathwaite went to flick one away to the legside and sent a leading edge back to the bowler.
The teams stay at Old Trafford for the third test, starting Friday.
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Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
