3rd Test England vs Windies : PREVIEW

An all round show from Ben Stokes helped England square the three match test series against West Indies with a 113 run victory in the second test in Manchester. The defeat seemed inevitable after the visitors surrendered on sunday evening, throwing away a fabulous opportunity to save the test and retain the Wisden Trophy. It was nip backer that wreaked havoc on West Indies. Barring John Campbell, the rest of top 7 were consumed by inward deliveries. West Indies lost this test because of many reasons, but the most important was their batsmen never showed the relentlessness of Stokes. No Windies batsman has scored a century in the series so far. Despite the slow nature of pitches and dry conditions, the tourists have been vulnerable against ball arriving on the stumps. Holder admitted it was a concern. We all have taken a nap at work but in a test match is a different thing : Windies are caught snoozing by a relentless England.                                     

TEAM ANALYSIS

• ENGLAND : Joe Root faces an intriguing list as England pick a side they hope can win the third test against West Indies. He is expected to have six to seven seamers with a strong case for selection available to him. But the downside of such luxury is that he will have to deal with some very dissapointed players. He should pick a side that can win the final test. A draw would see the West Indies retain the trophy. It will also leave England with just one victory from their last 5 test series. 

• Predicted 11 : Rory Burns, Dom Sibley,  Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Butler, Ollie Pope, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, James Anderson.

• WEST INDIES : Jason Holder said that he doesn't quite see the situation as "drop someone and select someone else", move so in the middle of the tour, but the numbers over the past couple of years don't make a case for Hope at all. Hope, for all his terrific performances in ODI cricket,has seen his stocks fall significantly in test cricket. He doesn't have a test hundred since scoring two in headingly in 2017. Hope's average has fallen from 45.47 in 2017 to 20.23 in 2018 and 19.75 in 2019. Surely West Indies have more batsmen waiting in the wings. There may be some workload management for West Indies seamers too. Shanon Gabriel and Kemar Roach have bowled 69.5 and 80 overs respectively in the series so far and with only 3 days recovery time after back to back tests, there may be little choice but to rotate uncapped Chemar Holder and bowling allrounder  Raymon Reifer are the back up seamers in the squad, but West Indies may include Rakheem Cornwall for the 3rd test.

• Predicted 11 : John Campbell/Joshua Da Silva, K. Braithwaite, Shai Hope, S. Brooks, Roston Chase, J. Blackwood, Shane Dowrich (wk), Jason Holder (c), Rakheem Cornwall, Alzaari Josph, Kemar Roach.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR !

Ben Stokes

He'll bowl you 11 over spells.

He'll throw himself at every catch.

He'll field wherever the ball is most likely to go.

He'll be trusted to take late wickets to break partnership.

He can bat for 350+ balls or he'll be opening when team needs quick runs.

Ben Stokes, the world's no.1 all rounder is

 England's man for all sessions .