Going into the third and final Test of the three-match series, England have already collected the ‘Richards-Botham Trophy 2024’, after their 241-run victory on the fourth day of the second Test at Trent Bridge, in Nottingham, thanks to the maiden five-wicket haul at home by off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Under the captaincy of Ben Stokes, England began the opening Test of the series with a huge win at Lord’s by an innings and 114-run margin, besides giving farewell to their all-time record wicket-taker of the format James Anderson on a high before the latter became the bowling mentor for the team for the rest of the summer.
Debutant Gus Atkinson displayed his pace and aggression throughout the Test to claim a 12-wicket match haul in the contest. Mark Wood replaced Anderson at Trent Bridge and hit the top speed of 97.1 miles per hour in the game which was the fastest over recorded by an England over at home.
‘We need to protect Mark Wood after the pace he has bowled’- Stuart Broad
There was hardly any contest from the West Indies-led side in the first Test, having been bundled out twice for less than 150 runs in both innings. The bowling was decent but the pacers were quite clearly lacking overs under the belt at the start, and as the game went on, they kept on getting rhythm in it.
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A better batting display was hoped from the tourists, and they showed the exact same, after bowling out the home side for 416 in the first innings, on a good batting surface, as Ollie Pope reached his century, besides finding captain Stokes and opener Ben Duckett celebrating their respective half-centuries.
Kraig Brathwaite, the captain of the West Indies team showed great resilience against the new ball, before Bashir brought England back in the affair, as the opponent batters too supported them with needless aggressive shots in between. But the 175-run stand for the third wicket between Alick Athanaze, who missed out on his maiden Test century, and Kavem Hodge, who went on to register a 120-run knock with the help of 19 boundaries.
Chris Woakes took early wickets in the morning of the third day, as for a moment it felt like Stokes and co. would go back in the dressing room with a healthy lead of over 50 runs. But the last wicket partnership of 71 runs between Shamar Joseph and wicket-keeper Joshua De Silva offered them a 41-run vital lead.
The twin centuries from two Yorkshire batters- Joe Root and Harry Brook, both of whom shared a 189-run stand for the fourth wicket put their side in a comfortable position to set the target of 385 runs, which was unlikely to be achieved by this Caribbean team, as the latter were bundled out for 143-runs.
England could think of giving a break to Wood, who had his injury problems in the past. In that case, one of the uncapped Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts, who has made six Test appearances could make it into the playing eleven of the side.
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‘I am not a fan of making changes for the sake of it. We need to protect Wood after the pace he has bowled and the heat in the second Test.’ Former England bowler Stuart Broad told Sky Sports. ‘I probably wouldn’t play him at Edgbaston but bring him back against Sri Lanka later in the summer. I would make one change – Pennington for Wood.’
England squad for the third Test against West Indies
Ben Stokes (captain), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wicket-keeper), Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.