WI vs ENG: West Indies To Remain Unchanged In Second Test, England Likely To Play Without Mark Wood

West Indies will remain unchanged against England in the second Test at the Kensington Oval after the hosts denied victory to their opponents in a nail-biting fixture in the first Test.

On the final day of the first Test, the hosts lost four wickets for nine runs at one stage, senior West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder (37*) and Nkrumah Bonner joined forces to salvage a draw for their team. The pair stitched 80 runs for the fifth wicket and batted for more than 35 overs to ensure the visitors didn’t cause any damage to their batting order.

WI vs ENG: It was a hard-fought first match: West Indies chief selector

West Indies Men’s cricket team chief selector Desmond Haynes confirmed there won’t be any changes to their squad for the second Test in Barbados and appreciated Bonner, who scored 123 in the first innings, for his determined and spectacular knocks in the match.

“It was a hard-fought first match in Antigua and we decided to stick with the same 13 players for the second match in Barbados,” Haynes was quoted as saying by ICC. 

“(Nkrumah) Bonner demonstrated the way you should play, and we were very pleased with the way he played in the first innings and again in the second innings. It was a hard work for all the bowlers, and we were very happy with the way they stuck to the task,” he added. 

Mark Wood is unlikely to feature in Barbados: Paul Collingwood

England will move into the second Test without the services of Durham pacer Mark Wood as the bowler was ruled out of the second Test after complaining severe pain in the right elbow on the final day (morning) of the first Test in Antigua.

England interim coach Paul Collingwood confirmed Wood will be unavailable for the second match and the pace bowler will undergo medical scans to examine the seriousness of his injury.

“He (Wood) is sore. The sensible option is to send him for a scan and see what he is going to be like for the rest of the series. He has not bowled in the second innings here so you would say it is unlikely he will feature in Barbados,” Collingwood said. 

The second Test between West Indies and England will be played between March 12-16 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

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