1st Test, England host WI at Lord's: Preview and stats
England and West Indies will be up against each other in the opener of the three-Test series, starting July 10 at Lord's. Though the home team will take the ground as firm favorites, they shouldn't be complacent against the Caribbean side. Ben Stokes will lead England while Kraigg Brathwaite will have the command for the Caribbean side. Here is the preview of the opener.
Pitch report, timing, and streaming details
The opener will be played at the Lord's and conditions will favor all parties. The pitch ideally will help the pacers but as the innings will progress batters will score runs. In 145 Tests here, 52 of them have been won by teams batting first. Sony Sports Network will telecast the game whereas the FanCode app will live-stream the match from 3:30pm IST onward.
Here's the head-to-head record
Notably, England and WI have met on 163 occasions. England have won 51 matches compared to 59 for WI. 53 matches have been drawn. On England soil, WI have 31 wins and 36 defeats against the home team as the tally also includes 22 draws. However, WI last won a Test series in England way back in 1988.
Can WI make a mark?
England have been highly successful with their Bazball approach, barring their 1-4 defeat against India earlier this year. Notably, they have left out several prominent names for this series. Hence, many young faces will be on display. Meanwhile, WI will start as underdogs as they have had a lean run in this format lately. Eyes will be on skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder.
Here are the probable XIs
England (Probable XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Shoaib Bashir, Chris Woakes, Matthew Potts, James Anderson. West Indies (Probable XI): Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Zachary McCaskie, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Kevin Sinclair, Alzarri Joseph, Jason Holder, Shamar Joseph.
A look at the key performers
James Anderson, who will retire after the first Test, owns 51 Test wickets against WI at home at 21.05. Chris Woakes has scalped 113 Test wickets at home at a remarkable average of 21.88. Holder owns 671 runs at 33.55 and 37 wickets at 33.08 against England in the longest format. Brathwaite averages a healthy 41.62 against England in Tests (1,124 runs).
