England have the first of three possible chances to sew up the ongoing T20 series with West Indies on Thursday evening when the two sides head to St Lucia to continue what has been a largely one-sided affair to date.
England have won the opening two matches in fine fashion and a win here will wrap up the series with two games to play. West Indies know there is no room for them to move from here and they have to win to keep the series alive.
West Indies
Having won the ODI series in the comfortable fashion that they did, West Indies will be really disappointed to be in the position that they are in this series. I think most judges would have this format down as their strongest these days so it is a bit of a surprise not just that they have fallen 2-0 down but also that they have lost both of the matches in the comfortable fashion with which they have lost them. A huge improvement is needed.
To be fair to West Indies, they have run into a couple of special individual innings which have got the better of them but those innings have only had the impact that they have because they didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first place. I think it is fair to suggest that their fifth bowler has become an issue in this series and that is something they will need to fix here but generally in St Lucia it is the batters who get the job done rather than the bowlers.
England
Given that England were pretty well beaten in the ODI series, they deserve a lot of credit for being able to bounce back and start this T20 series so well. It has helped having their captain Jos Buttler back for sure but they just look like a more settled and confident side in this format of the game. That is probably a negative on the lack of domestic 50 over cricket but also a reflection of the fact that their batting order is better equipped for the quick scoring cameo innings of T20 cricket over the time occupying ones of the 50 over game.
There probably never was going to be an issue over the England batting in this series, especially with Buttler back in the side, but there always is one with the ball but in reality both of the match wins have been set up by the bowlers. That bodes well for England moving forward because their white ball teams haven’t really bowled well for a year or more. One more decent bowling performance in these three matches should be enough for them to claim a series win which looked unlikely going into it.
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Team News
Alzarri Joseph has concluded his suspension which was imposed on him for that weird incident in the final ODI and he could well return in place of his namesake Shamar Joseph. Andre Russell has been ruled out of the series so he won’t be included.
Reece Topley is said to be recovering well and could have a chance of being fit for this match but whether he is pushed remains to be seen. You wouldn’t think Jofra Archer will play three matches in four days but he is likely to be involved here.
Betting
You would imagine that this will be a high scoring match but the run line reflects that. The reason I think it will be a high scoring game is because the wicket at the Daren Sammy Stadium is one of the best batting tracks in the Caribbean and in the first game of this series in Barbados we got a high scoring game. The run line is a little above my comfort zone in the 350s though so I’m looking for another way in for what I perceive to be a run fest.
That comes in the England boundaries where the line is just 23.5. I say just 23.5 because in a match where less than 160 was the total in the last game, England scored 24 boundaries despite the in form Phil Salt being out first ball. This ground is smaller than the Kensington Oval and that second T20 was played on the same pitch as the first one. This should be a fresh pitch where the batters can get after the bowling and when you consider that England’s number six hasn’t seen the crease in the series yet, there is a lot more to come from this side so I expect them to cover this total.
Tips
Back England – Over 23.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
