England vs West Indies | Predictions for Day 4 at the Ageas Bowl
Holder will hold the key for the Windies on Day 4
|Getty
After edging ahead of England on Day 2, the West Indies, on Day 3, asserted their dominance and put themselves in prime position to win the first Test at the Ageas Bowl after taking a 114-run first innings lead. Their charge was propelled by the trio of Brathwatie, Chase and Dowrich.
Weather forecast
Just as we suspected yesterday, for the first time in this Test, we had a full day’s play as a total of almost 93 overs were bowled by the two teams on Day 3. There were clear skies from the very first over of the day and the sun shone until the final hour, thus making it the first ‘complete’ day of cricket post the pandemic wave. The great news is that Day 4 is expected to behave the same way, with there being just a 10% chance of rain. There is every chance that like Day 3, Day 4 might also oversee a bright and sunny and that would mean great news for the Windies, who look like favourites to win the encounter.
Pitch report
The pitch pretty much played out the same way as it did on Day 2, as 276 runs were scored for the loss of 9 wickets. At no point in the day did the pitch behave demonically and, all in all, it looked like an extremely consistent wicket which had something for both batsmen and bowlers throughout the day. The one striking factor that was evident on Day 3, however, was the fact that England off-spinner Dom Bess was able to extract a significant amount of turn, due to which he ended with healthy figures of 2/51. Given the amount of swing on Day 3 was lesser than that of Day 2, Bess’ performance would definitely make skipper Holder think about using Roston Chase on Day 4.
Key Batsman
Rory Burns: Over the course of the past 10 months or so, Rory Burns has transformed into a reliable, rock-solid customer up top for England and despite failing to convert his start in the first innings, he bloomed with confidence towards the end of Day 3, where he ensured that his side got to stumps without losing a wicket. Having passed the 30-run mark six times in his last eight Test innings, Burns has also become one of the more consistent run-scorers for England of late and that is also why Sportsbet.io feels that the southpaw will be favorite to top score for the Three Lions in the second innings.
Key Bowler
Jason Holder: It goes unsaid that Jason Holder will once again hold the key for Windies in the second innings. In fact, the whole prospect of Windies winning the Test might very well depend on how Holder fares on Day 4. In the first innings, he was the pick of the bowlers across sides, and his god-gifted ability to hit the perfect line and length blindfolded is what the English batsmen will be having nightmares about. Perhaps, Holder’s presence is what has forced the bookmakers to deem Windies as the favourites to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Sportsbet.io Prediction
Playing his first Test at home, right-hander Dominic Sibley has looked twitchy from the very first ball he faced in the first innings. Having been dismissed for a duck in the first innings, Sibley yet again looked uncomfortable and unsure against both Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel late on Day 3, and thus it’s hard to see him score big in this encounter. We, here, at Sportsbet.io, feel that the opener will be dismissed under 27.5 come Day 4. In case you missed it, our Shai Hope prediction for Day 3 was spot on - he perished for just 16.
