England vs West Indies 3rd Test tips and predictions: Ollie Pope to continue good form as England secure clean sweep

We were very harsh on the West Indies in our preview for the second Test at Trent Bridge and we'll doff our cap to the visitors as they were very good for the bulk of that Test match. 

They were impressive with bat in hand in the first innings, with Kavem Hodge and Joshua Da Silva impressing, but they once again collapsed in the second innings and England secured the series with a rather comfortable 241-run win.

England struggled at times in the last Test, particularly with the ball in the first innings, which saw the 'bring Jimmy Anderson back' brigade pipe up, however Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir partly answered those critics and helped the hosts take the 20 wickets required for the win.

With bat, England were superb, with five of their top six passing 50 in the match and they became the first England team ever to score 400 in both innings of a Test match.

Harry Brook and Joe Root got centuries in the second innings, while Ben Duckett was at his fluent best while scoring 147 runs across both innings. But it was Ollie Pope who was the lynchpin of the batting performance. 

A century in the first innings along with 51 in the second meant he secured the player of the match award.

Pope has an excellent record at number three and he has put in some excellent performances in the past, most notably in Hyderabad earlier this year, but this series has given us some signs of consistency and we're backing him to go big again.

One of the most consistent performers for the West Indies has been Jayden Seales, the right-arm quick has adapted to English conditions like a duck to water, partly due to a County Championship stint, and we think the Edgbaston pitch will suit him and that he'll be the West Indies' top first innings wicket taker.

In terms of the visitors' batting Kraigg Brathwaite is key at the top of the order and is the most experienced of the West Indies batters so we can see him topping the runs scoring charts for the hosts, however they will have to deal with Woakes on his home ground and you can get good odds on the 35-year-old being England's top wicket taker.

Once again the match result odds are skewed massively in England's favour, so we're going to have a punt in the partnership betting and for once we're being optimistic about the West Indies.

Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis combined for two 50 partnerships at Trent Bridge, therefore the visitors' first wicket to fall above 19.5 could net you a tidy profit.

 

Suggested bets

England top run scorer (1st innings)- Ollie Pope

West Indies top wicket taker (1st innings)- Jayden Seales 

England top wicket taker (1st innings)- Chris Woakes

West Indies top run scorer (1st innings)- Kraigg Brathwaite

West Indies first wicket above 19.5