England vs West Indies second Test prediction and cricket betting tips

Where to watch England vs West Indies

Sky Sports Cricket, 11am Thursday

Best bets

Joe Root to score a first-innings century
2pts 4-1 Betfair

Jamie Smith to score most first-innings sixes for England
1pt 9-2 bet365

West Indies to have first-innings opening partnership of over 16.5 
2pts 5-6 Coral, Ladbrokes

England vs West Indies prediction

England's record Test wicket-taker James Anderson retired after last week's innings victory over the West Indies but Joe Root, their second-highest runscorer, is still going strong.

After a classy 68 in the first Test at Lord's, Root is just 668 runs behind record-holder Alastair Cook despite playing 20 fewer matches than the former Essex opener.

England's number four may well take another chunk out of Cook's lead in the second Test at Trent Bridge, where his first-innings scores in seven appearances have been 30, 154 not out, 130, 78, 16, 64 and 176.

Root was one of five England players dismissed for between 50 and 76 at Lord's. That lack of ruthlessness did not cost them as the Windies were skittled for 121 and 136, with debutant Gus Atkinson taking 12 wickets, but the odds about Root scoring a first-innings century in Nottingham merit a bet.

Good batting conditions are expected at Trent Bridge so England's top six should lay the foundation for wicketkeeper Jamie Smith to tee off at number seven.

The Surrey youngster batted maturely for an impressive 70 on his debut, hitting two sixes – one of them out of the ground.

Smith is a nice price to score the most sixes in England's first innings, having cleared the ropes 13 times in 12 County Championship knocks this summer.

Anderson's final new-ball spell in Test cricket yielded typically miserly figures of 1-2 in five overs and the West Indies openers will be hoping for more scoring opportunities this week.

Debutant Mikyle Louis and captain Kraigg Brathwaite put on 34 in the first innings at Lord's before the Windies collapsed from 88-3 to 121 all out.

A first-wicket line of 16.5 looks too low for the tourists, who are 12-1 to level the three-match series in Nottingham.

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