After a three-match ODI series which were all pretty one-sided, West Indies and England embark on a set of five matches in the T20 format on Saturday when the Kensington Oval in Barbados will play host to the two teams.
In the grand scheme of things there isn’t a lot of context in these games, they are largely exercises in boosting the coffers of the West Indies, but battles between these two are usually entertaining and hopefully that is no different here.
West Indies
This is still the format of the game that West Indies are most natural and comfortable in so the fact that they have already won an ODI series between these two sides must bode well for their chances in the five games which come along over the next week or so. You can immediately tell that West Indies fancy the job much more in the T20s than they did in the ODIs because they have brought some of their heavyweights into the fold for these five games.
We know what West Indies are going to bring to the party here. They will look to smack everything out of the park and if they come off as a collective they are going to be tough to beat. If they only come off as individuals they still have more than enough in their ranks to get the job done here. West Indies tend to operate best with the ball in this format of the game as well and with the Caribbean Premier League still recent enough to be a factor there is no reason why those coming in can’t hit the ground running.
England
With the exception of one really strong batting innings, England didn’t really show up in those ODI matches so they will be out to go a whole lot better in these T20s even if they are probably not quite as historically strong in them as they are the ODI format. The problem that England had in the ODI matches was that their batting wasn’t really deep enough and that is unlikely to be an issue in an innings which only lasts 20 overs.
The test for England now will be whether they have enough bowlers who can stem the flow of runs rather than any issue that they have with the bat, especially as they have a heavyweight of their own returning with the bat. Clearly this is an England white ball side which is in transition but they will want to offer something in this opening game because if they let West Indies get their tails up then this could be a very long week at the office.
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Team News
West Indies will bring the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein and captain Rovman Powell into their side for this match. They will be without Alzarri Joseph for this game and the one on Sunday as he has been suspended by West Indies cricket.
England will have Jos Buttler back to lead them in this series but he isn’t going to keep wicket so Phil Salt will do that job. Dan Mousley could make his T20I debut here as could John Turner if he is selected although Jamie Overton might get the first nod to lengthen the batting.
Betting
I’m expecting the West Indies to win this match but this is T20 cricket and anyone can win a match with a few balls of brilliance so rather than back the home side to come out on top I’ll take them in another market. I don’t believe many of these matches will be low scoring so instead of taking the match win I will take West Indies to hit more than 21.5 boundaries, a line which sounds high but when you consider the talent on show for the home side it really isn’t that high.
West Indies have just scored at 6.21 runs per over in the ODI on this ground in a comfortable run chase to win that series with a plethora of boundaries and now they have Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell and Andre Russell among others coming back into the side. West Indies aren’t the sort of side to nudge and hurdle so even if England bat first and don’t go massive West Indies will go after them and look to get it done quickly. On a ground like the Kensington Oval which isn’t overly big I think West Indies cover this target.
Tips
Back West Indies – Over 21.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
