West Indies vs England, 1st T20I preview, likely XIs: tourists seek elusive glory on tour

Before the tour began, most had backed England to win the Tests and ODIs, while West Indies – the T20 World Cup champions – were the favourites in the T20Is. As things panned out, West Indies won the Tests and came back twice from behind to draw the ODI series.

But England seem to have find their mojo in the T20Is. They won the first match comfortably despite the absence of Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, and Ben Stokes. After Tom Curran (4/36), Chris Jordan (2/16), and Adil Rashid (1/15) restricted West Indies to 161/6, Jonny Bairstow (68 in 40 balls) took England home with 7 balls to spare.

The teams will now move to Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts for the second T20I.

West Indies will once again count on Chris Gayle, fresh from his 39 sixes in 4 ODIs. Gayle had started ominously in the first T20I (his 15 included 2 sixes) but it did not last long. Nicholas Pooran (58 in 37 balls) help build the West Indies innings, while Sheldon Cottrell (3/29) was their standout bowler.

Head to head

West Indies remain England’s bogey despite the outcome of the first T20I. England’s win-loss ratio of 0.454 against West Indies (5 wins, 11 defeats) is their worst against anyone with a 3-match cut-off. On the other hand, West Indies’ ratio (2.2) against England is their best against any country with a 5-match cut-off.

West Indies also hold a 4-2 advantage against England at home, but the two defeats have come in their last two clashes.

Venue details

Warner Park has hosted 6 T20Is till date. All of them have involved West Indies, who have played Afghanistan and Bangladesh thrice each. They have won 5 of these, while one match against Bangladesh had to be called off after 28 balls.

In other words, they hold a 100% record at Warner Park. England have never played here.

Key players

Nicholas Pooran (West Indies): Pooran finally seems to be living up to what he had promised two years ago. A T20I strike rate of 154 (145 in all T20) bears testimony to that. With a six-hitting ratio of well over 1 a match, Pooran is going to be one of England’s most dangerous threats.

Chris Jordan (England): Canny bowling, electric fielding, and out-and-out sloggin down the order – all of these have helped Jordan cement a place in England’s T20 XI. Jordan’s greatest assets are his accuracy and variations in pace, which make him England’s most potent bowler at the death.

Likely XIs:

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Jason Holder (c), Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.

England: Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Joe Denly, Sam Billings, David Willey, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid.

Prediction:

A tough one, but the world champions are slight favourites.