The second of three test matches between West Indies and England gets under way in Barbados on Wednesday and after a good battle in the first test the series remains all square.
The first test was staged in Antigua last week, England were even money favourites in the early betting but there was little between the teams.
Batting first England posted 311 and 140 of those runs came from Jonny Bairstow and Jayden Seales was top wicket taker with 4. West Indies replied with 375 and Nkrumah Bonner was their centurion with 123. Overton, Leach and Stokes all claimed 2 wickets.
England's second innings was dominated by Crawley (121) and Root (109) and the visitors declared at 349/6. That was a positive move and when they had West Indies at 67/4 they were in with a big shout but Bonner and Holder dug in and batted out the final session to secure the draw.
Bonner was named Man of the Match and this was how the teams lined up in Antigua.
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), John Campbell, Shamarh Brooks, Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, Veerasammy Permaul, Jayden Seales
England: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Daniel Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wk), Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Mark Wood, Jack Leach
Recent Head to Head
The most recent series came in England in the middle of 2020, West Indies sprang a surprise in winning the first of 3 test matches but England hit back to win the series 2-1.
Early in 2019 West Indies were 2-1 winners in a 3 match home series.
Kensington Oval, Barbados
Over the course of the last decade 7 test matches at this venue have produced 4 wins for West Indies and 3 defeats
The most recent match came against England in January 2019 and West Indies won by 381 runs. WI made scores of 289 and 415/6 declared and England were all out for 77 and then 246.
The Betting - 2nd Test Match
At the time of writing West Indies are 39/20 to win the match with the draw at 13/4 and England are even money
Joe Root is 9/4 to top score for England in the first innings and Brathwaite is 3/1 to do likewise for West Indies
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Jonny Bairstow came through for me as top 1st innings bat for England in the first test and although Root and Crawley both made tons in the second knock, I'll stick Bairstow at the same price. For West Indies, skipper Kraigg Brathwaite gets the nod.
Having been bullish about England in the first test I'm not going down the match result road in a hurry but if we do get another even contest then Ben Stokes' ability to contribute with bat and ball comes into the equation for Man of the Match.
Bets: Top England 1st innings run scorer, Bairstow at 7/2
Top WI 1st innings run scorer, Kraigg Brathwaite at 3/1
Man of the Match Ben Stokes at 15/2
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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