Predicting England’s Playing XI for their second Test match against West Indies

England defeated the visiting side West Indies by an innings and 114 runs to take an early lead in the three-match Test series. Ben Stokes and Co. will now aim to clinch the series when they take to the field for the second Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on July 18. 

Windies were completely outclassed in both departments in a match highlighted by James Anderson, who retired from all forms of cricket. With the legendary pacer hanging up his boots after a long illustrious career, England have added Mark Wood to the squad.

Here is England’s predicted playing XI for the 2nd Test against WI: 

Openers: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett 

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett are likely to continue in the opening role for England. Duckett struggled to find runs in the opening match, scoring just three runs off 13 balls. On the other hand, Crawley, known for his aggressive game, smashed 76 runs at a strike rate of 89. 

Middle-order: Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk)

England’s middle-order looks solid, especially with keeper batter Jamie Smith showing his skills in his maiden Test match. Interestingly, all four of their middle-order batters – Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Smith – have hit half-centuries in the previous match. Debutant Smith was particularly impressive with his 70-run knock. 

All-rounders: Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes 

Captain Ben Stokes failed to contribute with his bat (4 off 11) as he was bamboozled by a cracking delivery from leg-spinner Gudakesh Motie. However, the fast-bowling all-rounder picked up a total of three wickets. Chris Woakes is one of England’s best all-rounders. Batting in the lower order, he scored a valuable 23 runs and also grabbed a wicket. 

Bowlers: Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood 

Gus Atkinson was the hero for England in the first match. He grabbed fifers in both the innings of his Test debut. Atkinson’s 12/106 is the third-best figure by a pace bowler on his Test debut. Mark Wood joins the Test team after a break to fill the void left by the legendary Andersen. The express pacer is likely to enjoy the conditions at Trent Bridge. Meanwhile, right-arm spinner Shoaib Bashir did not get a single over to bowl in the last match as the fast bowlers were having fun against the Windies batters.

ENG’s Predicted XI against WI: 

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood 

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