Edgbaston, July 25 (IANS) Ahead of the third and final Test against England in Edgbaston on Friday, West Indies have suffered a double blow as spinner Kevin Sinclair has been ruled out due to a fractured forearm while pacer Shamar Joseph is down with the flu.
In Sinclair’s absence, spinner Gudakesh Motie will return to the playing 11 after missing the second Test due to illness. Interestingly, Sinclair replaced Motie in the Windies playing 11 for the Trent Bridge Test after he fell ill on the match day.
In the second Test, Silchar sustained a blow on his forearm while fending off Mark Wood’s 148 kmph delivery which later turned out to be a fracture and ruled him out of the third Test.
On the other hand, Joseph is in doubt for Friday’s clash after catching the flu. As per an ESPNcricinfo report, Akeem Jordan is on standby for a debut if he doesn’t recover in time. Joseph failed to live up to the potential in his first England tour after his heroic debut in Australia earlier this year. He only bagged two wickets in the second Test after returning wicketless in the opening match of the series.
England have a 2-0 unassailable lead in the series after winning the first two matches in the Lord’s and Trent Bridge respectively. They have announced the unchanged side for the final match of the series.
–IANS
ab/bsk/