Windies vs England, 2nd Test, Preview - Wounded Brits eager to settle the scores against high-on-confidence Caribbeans

The England cricket team would not have faced as much criticism recently as they did after the loss to Windies in the First Test. The hosts trashed them by a massive 381-run margin with the help of a double century from Jason Holder and an eight-wicket haul by Roston Chase. The English batting order seemed to have no answers to the Caribbean pacers and the spinners.

Even though they had the upper hand at times, they let the advantage drift away with some hapless cricket that was on display. Confidence is a massive factor in a team sport and the Windies are clearly high on it. There are several positives they can draw from the first Test. There is no reason that they can not do it again after they emerged triumphant in the last game.

Though, England team has got a lot of thinking to do. The nation takes a lot of pride in Test cricket and this sort of loss would feel like someone might have slit their neck off. Clearly, the Brits will hope to gets over the things that are already gone by. The focus for them will be to settle the scores and salvage the lost pride.

Team Combinations

Windies

John Campbell, after his performances in the first Test, might have sealed the opening spot which the management has been looking for quite a while now. The team will most likely be the same as it was for the series opener. The top-order batsmen, Darren Bravo, in particular, should look to contribute big. The bowling, with the likes of Holder, Roach, Gabriel and Joseph looks quite strong. Shane Dowrich will continue to don the gloves.

Predicted XI: Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Shane Dowrich (wk), Jason Holder (C), Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph.

England

England has got two options that they can look at with regards to their batting department. Either of Keaton Jennings or Ben Foakes will make way for Joe Denly’s debut. The all-rounder was seen spending long hours in the nets after the first Test and also bowled a lot. After his recent performances, Jennings is under the radar and is most likely to sit out. If Ben Foakes sits out, England can bat Denly at three and send Jonny Bairstow back lower down the order. Another sure shot change is Stuart Broad will come in for Adil Rashid.

Predicted XI: Rory Burns, Joe Denly, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Ben Foakes (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

Focus will be on

Jason Holder (Windies)

Jason Holder led the Windies team from the front in the first Test. He scored an aggregate of 207 runs in the match including an unbeaten double century. Furthermore, he was highly clinical with the ball and picked up two wickets. He was slightly unlucky that a few chances didn’t go his way while bowling. There will be high expectations on him for the upcoming Test as well and it remains interesting if he can be consistent enough.

Moeen Ali (England)

Moeen Ali registered ducks in both the innings of the series opener. His role down the order is critical with the bat and he will definitely need to perform better than what he did previously. Even though he failed with the willow, Ali was decent enough with the ball and picked up a total of four wickets in the game. England will be looking forward to his contributions with the bat.

Head to Head

Matches – 155 | Windies won – 56 | England won – 48 | Draw – 51

Stat Attack

1 — If the Windies register another win under the captaincy of Jason Holder, he will surpass Darren Sammy’s record of 8 Test wins and will equal Sir Garry Sobers who led the team to victories on 9 occasions. In the 28 Tests that Holder led the team, they recorded 8 wins, 15 losses and 5 draws.

Broadcast Details

TV – Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 1 HD

Match Timings – 19:30 IST; 10:00 local

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