The third and final Test of the three-match Test series between England and the West Indies will begin on Friday and will be played at the iconic Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham.
The series has so far proven to be a one-sided affair, as many had predicted, with England having won both of the first two matches. This means the third Test will be a dead rubber from the perspective of the series, but West Indies would be desperate to at least get something out of the last match, so as to not return empty-handed and add some points to their 2023-25 ICC World Test Championship charts.
As for the WTC standings, England has climbed to the sixth position with a PCT figure of 31.25%, while West Indies is at the very bottom of the table, with 22.22% PCT. The Three Lions would not be able to make it to the final as well, but they would want to finish in the top five.
What has happened so far?
In the first Test at the Lord’s, which was also legendary pacer James Anderson’s last international match, West Indies batted first and were bowled out for 121 runs, with Gus Atkinson taking a seven-wicket haul.
In response, England scored 371 runs with the help of five half-centurions – Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith. West Indies’ second innings was equally poor as they were bowled out for 136 runs and England secured a win by an innings and 114 runs. Atkinson was the star once again as he picked up 5 wickets this time around.
England batted first in the second match at Nottingham and scored 416 runs, where Pope scored a century and Ben Duckett and captain Ben Stokes got half-centuries. It was expected that West Indies would not turn up with the bat again, but to everyone’s surprise, they did.
The Caribbean boys took a shocking lead by scoring 457 runs, with Kavem Hodge scoring 120 runs and both Alick Athanaze and Joshua Da Silva scoring 82 each. England then scored 425 runs, thanks to Root and Brook’s centuries, before the visitors’ batters eventually threw the towel. West Indies was bowled out for 143 runs, thanks to young spinner Shoaib Bashir’s five-wicket haul, as England won the match by 241 runs.
Head to Head Record
It might appear shocking given the current circumstances, but West Indies actually has the upper hand when it comes to head-to-head records. These two teams have crossed swords 165 times in Test cricket, where West Indies has won 59 matches while England has 53 wins to their name. Besides that, 53 matches ended in draws.
In fact, the last Test series before the ongoing one also saw West Indies beating England 1-0 in a three-game affair. After the first two Tests failed to produce a winner, Da Silva’s century and Kyle Mayers’ fifer helped West Indies win that match in Grenada two years ago.
Key Players
Ollie Pope (England): Pope has grown leaps and bounds as an international cricketer since his Test debut against India in 2018, and six years down the line, he might be at the peak of his powers. Presently, the 26-year-old is England’s highest run-scorer with 229 runs in three innings, which have come at an average of 75+.
Coming to bat after Duckett’s early dismissal in the first Test, Pope scored an important 74-ball 57. Then in the second Test, he came into bat even earlier as Crawley was dismissed on a duck, and ended up scoring 121 runs.
Ollie Pope is currently England’s highest run-scorer in this series
Crawley was out early once again in the second innings and Pope came to the rescue for the third time, scoring 51 runs. He also brings calm to the chaotic English batting line-up, scoring runs at a strike rate of under 75 with the old-school approach.
Jayden Seales (West Indies): West Indies would have done much better in this series had their bowling unit not been so over-dependent on Jayden Seales. The right-arm pacer is currently his team’s highest wicket-taker by a mile, with 10 wickets to his name at an average of just over 26 and a strike rate of under 35.
Seales picked up four wickets in the first Test, including the wickets of two of England’s top scorers in that innings – Crawley and Smith. Then in the second Test, he dismissed Root and Chris Woakes in the first innings, before cleaning up Brook, Stokes, Mark Wood and Bashir in the second.
Predicted XIs
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes ©, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite ©, Zachary McCaskie, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Kevin Sinclair, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales.
Prediction
Although they have won the series already, it can be expected that England will approach this match with full steam, with their Bazball machinery targeting a whitewash. Considering West Indies’ batting troubles apart from the first innings at Trent Bridge, England will start the match as favorites again.