England have announced their Playing XI for the third Test match against the West Indies, scheduled to commence in Birmingham on Friday, 26 July.
The hosts, who lead the three-match series 2-0, named an unchanged side from their 241-run victory in the second Test, played at Trent Bridge.
England started their busy summer season on a high as Gus Atkinson’s heroics with the ball gave them a confidence-boosting victory in the first Test.
Atkinson, making his debut, dismantled the West Indies batting lineup in the first innings with a seven-for. The touring side, as a result, only managed to register 121 runs on the board.
England batters banked on the momentum provided by Atkinson and scored 371 runs in response with Zak Crawley, debutant wicketkeeper batter Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook scoring half-centuries.
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Atkinson continued from where he left off and backed his seven-for with a five-wicket haul to steer England to victory by a huge margin of an innings and 114 runs in the series opener.
The second match saw West Indies put up a fight in the first innings as they scored 457 runs in response to England’s 416. Ollie Pope starred for England with a hundred, while Kavem Hodge struck a century for West Indies.
The hosts carried the momentum in the second innings and piled up 425 runs on the back of Joe Root and Harry Brook’s centuries, setting West Indies a target of 385 runs.
Young spinner Shoaib Bashir with his bowling figures of 5-41 steered England a crushing victory to attain an unassaible lead in the three-match series.
England Playing XI for third West Indies Test
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c) Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
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