England vs West Indies 2020: 2nd Test, Preview: Hurt England Look To Assume Parity As West Indies Eye Consecutive Series Triumphs

England has dropped a Test match on their soil in almost every series in the past five years but despite that, they have always come back strongly to either win the series or ensure that they don’t lose it since their 0-1 defeat to Sri Lanka back in 2014.

England haven’t lost a Test series to the West Indies on their own turf this century. All of these proud records will be on the line when Joe Root’s men square off against the West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester from Thursday.

The home side was comprehensively beaten by Jason Holder’s West Indies at the Rose Bowl. The game, in a way, showcased the fallacies of English Test cricket to its hilt in Southampton. The controversy around Stuart Broad’s axing and Ben Stokes decision to bat on a cold, wet first day against a rampant West Indian pace-attack attack should not come in the way of the fact that England- as a batting-unit against the Dukes- have been struggling for quite some time now.

Will Joe Root’s return make a difference to England batting or will West Indies bowlers continue to dominate

In every game, England have found themselves 2-20, 3-30, which has not only exposed their middle-order to the new ball, it has also ensured that the home side play catch-up cricket from the very outset. On occasions when they have got steady starts- as they did in the second innings- their batsmen have been gulity of throwing away their starts against the run-of-play, leading to fatal collapses on a consistent basis.

The return of skipper Joe Root, who will most probably come in the side at the expense of Joe Denly, will add potency and experience to the batting-unit but England will hope that he doesn’t walk into bat, with the score reading- 2-20 or 3-40.

This will be an important Test for Jos Buttler too. Chris Silverwood has said that Buttler will be given the best possible chance to succeed, but the right-hander, who had a pretty ordinary game in Southampton, knows his Test career is on a knife-edge and nothing but a big contribution with the bat in the next two matches can save it.

England have named a 13-man squad for the 2nd Test. While Joe Denly has been dropped, Mark Wood and James Anderson have been rested. Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, and Ollie Robinson have been added.

West Indies, on the other hand, is brimming with confidence. While they will be concerned with the form of Shamarh Brooks and Shai Hope, Holder and the team-management will be buoyed by the fact that the likes of Roston Chase, Kraigg Brathwaite, and of-course Jermaine Blackwood stood up at different situations and contributed crucial scores.

One of the things that West Indies teams of the past have been accused of is their lack of patience, discipline, and consistency. In Southampton, Windes- with both bat and ball- displayed all of these facets to the hilt.

Can they repeat the same in Manchester? If they do, it will be one of the most significant achievements of West Indian cricket in the modern era.

Also Read: England vs West Indies 2020: 2nd Test – England’s Predicted Playing XI

Date and venue:

July 16th, 2020, 03:30 pm IST, Old Trafford, Manchester.

Playing Combinations

England:

England have named a 13-man squad for the 2nd Test. While Joe Denly has been dropped, Mark Wood and James Anderson have been rested. Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, and Ollie Robinson have been added.

Predicted Playing XI:

Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (C), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (WK), Dom Bess, Sam Curran/Chris Woakes Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad.

West Indies:

As far as the hosts are concerned, why change anything that ain’t broken? They should go with the same playing XI.

Predicted Playing XI:

Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Shai Hope, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich (WK), Jason Holder (C), Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel.

Pitch Conditions

The pitch at Old Trafford has historically been good for batting but its pace is something that has always kept the fast bowlers interested. First inning runs are the key in Manchester as batting continues to get difficult as the games wear on.

The last three games have all been won by sides batting first. Overall, 30 games out of 79 have been won by the sides batting first.

Weather Forecast

There is a lot of rain [70% chance] predicted in Manchester in the lead-up to the Test match but thankfully, it is expected to be dry on Thursday, even though it could still remain overcast.

According to the forecast, the temperatures are expected to fluctuate between 14-18 degrees celsius, the humidity could hover around 82℅.

Head to head:

Played – 158
Won by England – 49
Won by West Indies – 58
Drawn – 51

Stats that matter:

• Joe Root loves batting at Old Trafford. In 5 games that the English skipper has played at the venue, he has scored 595 runs with the help of 4 half-centuries and one hundred.
• England has 4 of their last six Tests at Old Trafford since 2010. Their only defeat at the venue came last year against Australia.
• West Indies have played 15 Tests in Manchester in which they have won 5 and lost 6. They have, however, lost two of their three Tests at the venue since 2000.

Match Prediction:

England are hurting, Windies are bubbling with self-belief. God, it is tough to predict this one. England generally come back strongly after a hammering on their home soil, and given their record in Manchester, backing the hosts to level the series.