West Indies vs England, 4th ODI preview, likely XIs: England to take field as favourites

The series is still level 1-1 after rain washed out the third ODI of the five-match series between West Indies and top-ranked England, at National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada, on February 25. The two teams will clash again in the fourth ODI, at the same ground.

England had won the first match by 6 wickets with 8 balls to spare, while West Indies levelled the series with a 26-run win in the second match, both at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.

Chris Gayle hit 16 sixes in the first two matches for his hundred and fifty, but critics have pointed out that he has struck at less than a run a ball. West Indies’s best batting performance has come from Shimron Hetmyer (104* in 83 balls in the second match), which was duly supported by Sheldon Cottrell (5/46).

For England, Jason Roy and Joe Root scored hundreds in the first match, while Eoin Morgan has played two excellent innings in the series.

Head to head

England’s run rate since the 2015 World Cup is 6.23, which means their average 50-over score has been 312. The corresponding number for no other side has been even 286. They bat till ten, perhaps till eleven, and everyone in the line-up is capable of big hitting.

West Indies lost the last 6 ODIs before winning the second ODI of the ongoing series. Overall, England have won 50 ODIs and lost 43 against West Indies with a win-loss ratio of 1.16. At home, however, West Indies hold a 22-16 advantage.

Venue details

St George’s is not a high-scoring ground. Since the 2007 World Cup, the only score in excess of 300 has come against Zimbabwe. And if one ignores matches against Zimbabwe, there has been only one ODI hundred here in this decade.

The average first-innings score is 249. In the second innings, they score 242 on an average. A total of 270 may be match-winning.

The washed-out ODI (after the toss) is England’s only match here.

Players to watch

Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies): Chris Gayle might have followed his hundred with a fifty and hit 16 sixes in the series already, but the batting performance of the series has come from Hetmyer. Only 22, Hetmyer has already smashed 4 hundreds in 22 ODIs, and his average (42) and strike rate (109) are indicative of his immense talent.

Jason Roy (England): Roy failed in the second ODI – but then, that has been the story of his career. Of his 19 fifty-plus ODI scores he has scored at over a run a ball 16 times. One of these came in the first ODI of the series, where he set up a chase of 361 with an 85-ball 123.

Likely XIs:

West Indies: Chris Gayle, John Campbell, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

Prediction
Despite West Indies’s win in the second ODI, England will take field as favourites – mostly because of their incredible depth in batting.