West Indies have been dealt a very late blow ahead of the second Test against England at Trent Bridge as left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie has been ruled out of the contest due to illness.
On July 17 (Wednesday), the Windies announced an unchanged XI for the second Test in Nottingham, despite suffering a heavy defeat at Lord’s. Motie was a part of the XI, and he was, in fact, a silver lining for the hosts from that encounter: he returned figures of 2/41 with the ball and registered scores of 14* & 31*.
The 2/41 included the wickets of Ben Stokes & Joe Root, both senior batters castled by pearlers.
But the 29-year-old has been replaced in the XI minutes ahead of the toss after feeling unwell.
Motie will be replaced in the Windies XI by off-spinning all-rounder Kevin Sinclair.
The 24-year-old made his Test debut earlier this year in the famous Gabba Test against Australia which West Indies won by eight runs. There, Sinclair struck a fifty on debut batting at No.8, and took the big wicket of Usman Khawaja in the first innings.
In West Indies’ four-day competition this season, Sinclair is the third-highest run-getter with 508 runs at an average of 63.50. On top of that, he’s taken 13 wickets at an average of 31.23.
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