England will host the West Indies for the second Test of their three-match series at Trent Bridge, Nottingham from Thursday, July 18.
ENG vs WI: Live score and ball-by-ball commentary
Follow the live score and get ball-by-ball updates for the England v West Indies second Test here.
Today's England vs West Indies match preview
England v West Indies, 2nd Test
Where: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
When: July 18, 11:00 am local time
At Lord’s, England thrashed the West Indies by an innings and 114 runs inside seven sessions to take early lead in the three-match series. The Test also marked the exit of James Anderson, who bowed out of international cricket with 704 wickets from 188 Test matches. England have replaced him with Mark Wood in the XI.
The West Indies had announced that they would retain their playing XI from Lord’s. However, Gudakesh Motie went down with influenza on the morning of the second Test, and the tourists were forced to draft Kevin Sinclair into the playing XI at the last moment.
Bad news for West Indies: Gudakesh Motie misses out after waking up feeling unwell, and has been replaced in the team by Kevin Sinclair.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) July 18, 2024
Sinclair bowls off-breaks and is a handy batter down the order. This will be his second Test match, after Brisbane earlier this year. There, he bowled only eight overs but managed to dismiss Usman Khawaja – and celebrated it with a cartwheel. From 29 first-class matches, he has 80 wickets at 25.81 and 1,548 runs at 38.70.
ENG vs WI: Who are the key players?
Gus Atkinson
Atkinson burst into Test cricket with 12 wickets on debut, at Lord’s, rewriting many a record in the process. England captain Ben Stokes has already announced that he will take new ball with Chris Woakes.
Shamar Joseph
The hero of the West Indies’s famous Brisbane triumph, Joseph did not look one hundred percent at Lord’s. He will be raring to go at the English batters at Trent Bridge.
ENG vs WI team news
England
England announced their playing XI a day in advance, bringing in Wood for Anderson. There was uncertainty over Ben Duckett’s availability, but he is playing in the Test match.
West Indies
The West Indies were forced to bring in Sinclair for Motie. While Motie is undoubtedly the superior bowler – he was also the West Indies’s best at Lord’s – Sinclair can be classified as a bona-fide bowling all-rounder.
ENG vs WI: Toss & Playing XI
West Indies have won the toss and chosen to field first.
England
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir
West Indies
Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva (wk), Kevin Sinclair, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales
Pitch report and ground conditions
“It looks like a good cricket pitch but we’ll utilise what we get,” said Brathwaite at the toss when he opted to field. Trent Bridge used to be a batting-friendly surface, but that has changed in the 21st century. Of all English venues, Trent Bridge has the worst batting average (28.94) in Test cricket since 2000. Expect a low-scoring contest.
Team form (most recent first)
England: WLLLL
West Indies: LWLDL
Odds and match prediction
According to Stake, England are favourites to win this match.
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