West Indies vs England 2nd Test Prediction

ENG Team News

England’s team selection gamble did not pay off in the first test, with Stuart Broad expected to return for the second test. Broad, Jack Leach and opening batsman Joe Denly are all in the 12-man squad, with Adil Rashid and Keaton Jennings definitely out. Leach and Sam Curran are likely to fight it out for the final spot in the team.

Adil Rashid appears the most likely to drop out, with no obvious need for a second spin-bowling option, while Sam Curran could also drop out – Chris Woakes is another bowling option if England opt to replace both men.

Batting-wise, the selectors have showed a lot of faith in Keaton Jennings but the calls for Joe Denly to replace him are going to keep growing the more he struggles for runs. Ben Foakes accepted his place was in danger after under-performing in the first test, with Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler both able to take over wicket-keeping duties, but he looks set to continue behind the stumps.

ENG Key Players

England can not escape the fact they fell well short with the bat and ball last time out, but they remain packed with key players.

James Anderson claimed his 27th five-wicket haul in the first innings last time out – taking him level with Ian Botham as joint-most for an England bowler. He is also now the first Englishman to take 200 wickets in away tests. Stuart Broad is likely to join him for the second test, having taken 16 wickets in the home series against India. He also claimed 4-19 in the first of England’s two warm-up matches and will be looking to add to his 433 test match wickets.

With the bat, Joe Root has 619 runs in his last ten test matches, while Jos Buttler has hit 709. Both men scored centuries on the tour of Sri Lanka, as did Jonny Bairstow – who hit a match-winning 100 in the third test. Buttler was also the leading run-scorer against India in the summer too.

ENG Team Form

England headed to the West Indies having won eight of their previous ten test matches since a winless tour of Australia and New Zealand last winter. Since then, they drew 1-1 at home to Pakistan before claiming a 4-1 series win against India. Last time out, they whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0.

Against India, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Joe Root and the retiring Alastair Cook all hit centuries over the course of the series, though it was an all-round performance from Sam Curran that won the first game and set the tone for the series.

With the ball, James Anderson and Stuart Broad shared 40 wickets between them as England won a tense first match by 31 runs at Edgbaston and followed it up with an innings win at Lord’s India hit back in the third test, but England won by 60 runs and 118 runs in the final two tests.

Next up, in Sri Lanka, England won started with a dominant first-test win, as Ben Foakes hit a debut century and Moeen Ali took four wickets in each innings in a 211-run win. In the second test, 38 of the 40 wickets to fall were to spinners. Jack Leach claimed eight of them for England in a 57-run win. Finally, Jonny Bairstow’s century in the first innings of the first test proved vital, as England eventually won by 42 runs.

Their good form was ended in extreme style last time out, however – dismissed for a paltry 77 in 30.2 overs in their first innings against West Indies and then, after being set an unlikely 628 to win, they fell to 246 all out.