ABOUT THE MATCH

We have seen two outstanding Test matches between West Indies and England so far. Both the Test matches went to the final day and kept the audiences on the edge of their seats. Now, the series is level at 1-1 and from 24th July 2020, the third and final Test match between these two sides will begin. It is no doubt that both teams will try their best to win this match and win the title.

The third Test match will be played in the same venue as the second Test match, at Old Trafford, Manchester, but in a different pitch. This is the third continuous match that squads are going to play and that’s why exhaustion is going to play a major role in the selection process. We can expect a couple of changes in both the teams.

Teams & Players’ performance Analysis:

Top Order Analysis

Eng VS WI
Eng VS WI
  • In the Top Order Analysis – From West Indies side, Campbell stands tall with an impressive average strike rate of 85.19 – And Shai Hope with an excellent average runs of 74.82.
  • From the England setup – Zak Crawley looks good with a strike rate of 71.09 and average runs of 60.08 in his last 5 innings.

Middle Order Analysis

Eng VS WI
  • In the Middle-order Analysis – From the West Indies side, Dowrich stands tall with a strike rate of 65.89 and average runs of 53.12.
  • From the England side – Butler has the highest strike rate of 59 and Stokes is impressive with his average runs of 68.33 in his last 5 test knocks.

Top and Middle-order Analysis

Eng VS WI
  • In this Graph, we are comparing both the team top and middle order by their average runs.
  • In the top order, West Indies has a clear edge over England and even the Caribbean squad is dominating in the middle order too.

Top 3 Bowlers

Eng VS WI
  • In this graph, we have picked the top 3 bowlers from both the squads
  • From the West Indies setup – Roach stands tall with 27 wickets and Joesph has a good economy rate of 4.14
  • From the England squad – Broad claimed the highest number of wickets (24) in his last 5 innings and Bess has an impressive economy rate of 4.8.

Bowling Analysis

Eng VS WI
  • In the bowling analysis, we are comparing both the team by total wickets and average economy rate.
  • If we look at the graph – England has an edge over Windies by just 2 wickets and when it comes to average economy rate – West Indies is good with 5.18 and England team with 5.51.

West Indies

In the West Indies side, Alzarri Joseph may be replaced by Raymon Reifer as in one of the practice match before starting the Test series, he claimed 5 wickets. Because he is a left-arm fast seamer, Reifer can add another dimension to the attack of West Indies.

Shai Hope and John Campbell, both are struggling very hard with their form at the top of the order, but due to not having any experienced batsmen, West Indies team have to go with these two batsmen.

Predicted XI: Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Shai Hope, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich (WK), Jason Holder (C), Kemar Roach, Raymon Reifer, Shannon Gabriel

England

For the series decider match, both Jofra Archer and James Anderson will join the England side which means this time Sam Curran will have to sit in bench despite performing decently in the 2nd Test match.

Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad will retain their position in the England team despite the return of Archer and Anderson. Then, might be Ollie Pope sit outside and at no.7, Chris Woakes might bat with Jos Buttler shifting up to position no. 6 for team England.

Predicted XI: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (WK), Chris Woakes, Dom Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

Pitch Report:

For the complete duration of the second Test match, the pitch in Old Trafford helped the fast bowlers. By bowling in the right direction, the fast bowlers have got something good from the surface.

The track of the ground may favor again to the fast bowlers in the 3rd Test match and it will benefit both the teams as both have quality, fast bowlers.

Although Broad of England team is not considered as a fast bowler, he is capable enough to take advantage of the pitch.

Weather condition:

The weather condition is not that much good as there are chances of having heavy rain from the second day onwards. On opening day, a full day’s play is expected, but on the second day, there is more probability of rain.

On the 3rd and 4th day, the precipitation comes down to nearly 50% and on the final day, 40% which is slightly better than the second day, but still, it is not good news.

At this moment, the weather forecast suggests that there will be a chance of wasting much time due to rain.

Match Preview:

West Indies:

  • Phil Simmons has revealed some possible changes in the team after the 2nd Test match. For the first two Test matches, the bowling attack of the West Indies is the same and there are a couple of changes in the 3rd Test match.
  • Shannon Gabriel can be replaced by Raymon Riefer. The bad form of John Campbell also signaled him out from the squad.
  • The West Indies could choose young talent like Joshua Da Silva, who made good runs in the warm-up games. Now the biggest question is about Shai Hope. He has not made a singleton after the two Test matches.
  • In this Test, Nkrumah Bonner may get an opportunity to play the final Test as he has a very good experienced batsman.
  • Without Shannon Gabriel, the bowling attack of West Indies is going to suffer. Kemar Roach performed well in two Tests. He, Alzarri Joseph, Jason Holder, and Roston Chase will try to control the batting line up of the England team.

England:

  • Ben Stokes is continuously proving his expertise in the previous two matches. In both innings, he made good runs and claimed important wickets as well. As an all-rounder, the load of the Test match is more than as compared to other players.
  • The chief selector of England team, Chris Silverwood has said that England will play the third Test match with the best squad. Jofra Archer and James Anderson come back in this Test. Because of the inclusion of these two bowlers, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes might miss out on the final match.
  • Dom Bess is going to have pressure. In the fourth innings, he took only one wicket, which is not expected from the best spinner of team England. In the team, he will keep his place but his other bad performance may lead to elimination in Test series with Pakistan.
  • The batting line up of England will be the same as previously. Sibley, Burns, Root, and Crawley are the most important 4 batsmen. All they have to be consistent in the match.

Head to head:

  • Overall Test Matches – 159
  • England won – 50
  • West Indies won – 58
  • Draw – 51
  • Tied – 0

Team form in last 5 matches:

  • West Indies –  L, L, W, W,L
  • England – W, W, W, L,W

Probable top performers:

  • West Indies – Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel
  • England– Joe Root, Ben Stokes

Broadcast Details:

  • Tv – Sony Ten Network
  • Live Streaming – Sony Liv App
  • Match Timings – 24th July 2020 at 03:30 PM IST

Probable winning team:

West Indies’ side’s bowling department is more commendable but if we compare, England side’s bowling, as well as batting departments, they are properly balanced. So, according to stats and numbers, there is more probability of England to be the winning side.