The third and final test match between England and West Indies gets underway at Old Trafford, Manchester on Friday 24th July and any winner here will claim the series.
The opening match of the series saw West Indies spring a surprise with a 4 wicket win in a thrilling contest staged in Southampton but England bounced back to square things up at Old Trafford, coming out on top by 113 runs.
The teams remain in Manchester for what is now the decider and after the heroics of Jermaine Blackwood with the bat and Shannon Gabriel with the ball in the first test, the second match was largely about Ben Stokes.
Batting first England posted 469/9 declared with Stokes (176) and Sibley (120) doing the bulk of the damage. West Indies were all out for 287 in their reply (Brathwaite 75, Shamarh Brooks 68).
With bad weather having played a role over the weekend time was short and Stokes opened the England second innings and smashed another 78 runs as England declared on 129/3.
West Indies were all out for 198 (Shamarh Brooks 62) on the final day with Broad taking 3 wickets and 6 in total on his return to the side.
Team News
England dropped Jofra Archer and rested Jimmy Anderson and Mark Wood for the second test and they now have a big call to make with Broad, Woakes and Curran all among the wickets in the second test.
West Indies were unchanged with the following line up.
West Indies:
Jason Holder (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel
Old Trafford Manchester
Over the last decade England have now won 4, drawn 1 and lost 1 of the 6 test matches at Old Trafford. The defeat came in last years Ashes series against Australia.
The weather forecast will be worth keeping an eye on
The Betting:
3rd Test Match Winner
England 17/20
Draw 16/10
West Indies 15/2
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict:
Writing this preview on Tuesday lunchtime and the weekend weather forecast didn't look great which explains why the draw is trading at far shorter odds than we have seen earlier in the series. OF course that can all change and we could still get a result even if we lose a total of 1 days play in my opinion. However, I will look to the exotics rather than the match result for a pick.
First up in the Player Performance market with WSB I will side with Shane Dowrich to beat his quote. The Windies keeper bagged a pair in the second test but he made scores of 61 and 20 at Southampton and should pick up a couple of catches.
Joe Root gets the nod to top score for England in the first innings. He missed the first test but should play a much bigger part with a game under his belt.
Finally I'll take a speculative aim at Stuart Broad (who I think will retain his place in the line up) in the Man of the Match market. If we get rain, on and off, Broad should enjoy the conditions and a bowler might get the award this time around.
Bets:
Player Performance So Dowrich Over 85.5 at 17/20
Top England bat 1st innings Joe Root 28/10
Man of the Match Stuart Broad 17/2
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