West Indies opt to bat at Edgbaston; Motie replaces injured Kevin Sinclair

West Indies have won the toss in the third Test at Edgbaston and have opted to bat first. 

It’s the second toss victory in a row for Kraigg Brathwaite, who also won the toss in the second Test at Trent Bridge, where his side bowled first. 

Despite plenty of injury concerns, the visitors have made just one change to their line-up. All-rounder Kevin Sinclair, who fractured his forearm in Nottingham after being hit by a Mark Wood thunderbolt, has been replaced by left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie.

Motie played in the first Test at Lord’s but had to miss the second game due to illness. Fit-again now, the left-arm spinner takes the place of the man who replaced him at Trent Bridge. Shamar Joseph, too, was a doubt for this contest just hours ago, but he’s fit and ready to go. 

"We're going to have a bat, the pitch looks a good one, weather is good and want to utilise that. I think that's important, obviously have to work really hard. We've shown we can get it done. He's (Sinclair) good, has a couple of weeks to recover but Motie comes in. Shamar is good to go. We fully back the top 6 and look forward to some good things from them. It's just a belief that England is going to come hard, and we have to stay strong and work hard," said Brathwaite at the toss. 

England, meanwhile, have already named an unchanged XI for this Test. 

Playing XIs

West Indies (Playing XI): Kraigg Brathwaite(c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva(w), Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales

England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir

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