Match Prediction: Who Will Win the 2nd Test Between England and India?

The first match between India and England ended up in a draw as the final day of play was washed out by the beautiful British weather. It was a big shame because the test match was entering the final day finely poised - India needed another 150 runs to win, while England needed nine wickets. The next Test takes place at the Home of Cricket, Lord's, and thankfully the forecast for this one is much better.

Who do we think will win? Well, read on and all will be revealed.

England Team Preview

England probably would have lost the first Test, and they would probably not deny it if you asked them. Apart from the brilliant Joe Root, who hit 173 runs in the game, England's batting performance was really disappointing. It will come as no surprise to hear that Moeen Ali has been brought into the team to strengthen the batting line up and add a good spin-bowling option.

Ali averages just over 30 with the bat when playing India and a little under 30 with the ball. When he last played against India, he also bowled Virat Kohli for a duck and picked up seven more wickets. He has been in good form lately with the bat and you could make a decent profit on markets such as for him to score more than 25 runs and pick up a wicket. Root averages an impressive 56.05 against India and has hit 10 half-centuries and six hundreds against us. Therefore, it is probably not a wise move to bet against him scoring more runs in the second Test.

England will probably be without Stuart Broad for this game and he will likely be replaced by Mark Wood. This means that England will have more pace in the bowling attack to polish off the tail. England's batting is a bit vulnerable and they are a bit too dependent on Root to score, but their bowling attack looks strong. Ollie Robinson makes great use of the Lord's slope and is our pick for England's highest wicket-taker in the game.

India Team Preview

India were pretty close to winning the first Test, and will definitely be confident that they can pick up a win in the second Test. The difference between the two sides at Trent Bridge was Jasprit Bumrah, who collected nine wickets in the game and was pretty much unplayable. We reckon he will be India's top wicket taker once again.

India might be forced to making a change to their bowling lineup since Sahrdul Thakur is not fully fit. This means that Ishant Sharma will probably come into the team. Sharma will have fond memories of helping India to a win against England with seven wickets, bit it was quite some time ago. Sharma has always been good against left-handed batsmen and will benefit from the slope at Lord's.

The rest of the side should stay the same unless India decide to drop on of the struggling batsmen. We do not think that this will happen though. Virat Kohli has been in terrible form as of late, but there is absolutely no chance that he will be missing out. We feel that India has a stronger lineup than the England team, and would bet on the likes of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul picking up runs.

Toss Prediction

The team that goes on to win the toss will field first. It is expected that the groundsmen will leave plenty of grass on the surface, meaning that the team that bat firsts could end up struggling a bit. If the rumours are wrong and there is no grass on the pitch, then the team that wins the toss will want to bat first.

Pitch and Conditions

The weather forecast is set fair for this game, and there is no rain expected for the majority of the Test, which means that we should get a result. A few images of the wicket have been shared on social media, and there is plenty of grass on it - this could change by the coin toss.

As it stands, we expect a surface that will be useful to fast bowlers for the first few sessions before it settles down to become a good batting surface, and then takes a bit of spin later on. Getting a lead in the first innings is going to be vital.

Our Match Prediction

India came close to winning the first Test and have exposed a bit of weakness in England's batting lineup. Additionally, the form of Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah gives India a pretty lethal bowling attack. If the surface does spin late on, then the likes of Ravi Jadeja could be unplayable. Overall, we think India will go on to win the match.

Our England v India 2nd Test Match Prediction: