England ready for third Test as West Indies eye history

It boils down to the third and final Test match between England and the West Indies. The series is tied 1-1 and each side will go all in to win the trophy.

So far, in the first and second Tests, we saw some incredible performances from both teams. Notably, England's Ben Stokes and the Windies skipper Jason Holder have been the eyecatchers of the series. In the first Test, the West Indies' pace battery shattered the hosts, while Stokes' heroics in the second match once again saved the Brits from straight defeats.

Following the breach of COVID-19 protocols, Jofra Archer was dropped from the English side. As a result, he missed the second Test but that didn't hurt England's fortune. After undergoing quarantine, he has finally made it to the line-up for the final match.

Speaking about Archer, according to BBC, England captain Joe Root said, "He's had a tough week. Some of the stuff he had to deal with has been quite horrible. As a squad, we have tried to rally around him and made sure he is as good as he can. He will be desperate to put in a good performance. He seems good. He's performed well in practice and he's got a big smile on his face."

On the other hand, the West Indies will be eager to create history by winning the third Test. If they win, this would mark their first series victory in England in 32 years. It's not that the Carribeans only struggled to win a series in England lately, but they have been struggling to win any away series against any side in the world except Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe since 1995.

Meanwhile, England has been facing challenges regarding the selection of their bowling line-up. They have played Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran during the second Test, which the British squad won by 113 runs. Fortunately, Broad performed brilliantly to help his side come back strongly.

On the other hand, James Anderson and Mark Wood both played in the first Test. They were rested during the second encounter in Manchester. Among them, only Anderson has been picked for the series decider. Curran has been dropped.

As we speak, the West Indies have won the toss and chose to bowl first. With cloudy conditions and wet weather, the Emirates Old Trafford's pitch will favour the bowlers. It now remains to be seen who succeeds in holding their nerves until the end.