West Indies vs England, 5th ODI preview, likely XIs: England favourites despite Gayle threat

A hard-fought win in the fourth ODI, at National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada, put England 2-1 ahead in the five-match ODI series against West Indies. The teams will now move on to the Darren Sammy International Cricket Ground, Gros Islet, St Lucia for the decider.

The series was tied 1-1 after the first two ODIs, both of which were played at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. England had chased down 361 easily in the first of these, while West Indies won the second by 26 runs.

The next two ODIs were scheduled at National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada. The first of these was washed out without a ball being bowled. England put up 418/6 in the other as Jos Buttler (150) and Eoin Morgan (103) slammed hundreds.

West Indies ran them close before being bowled out for 389 – with 12 balls to spare. The chase was dominated by Chris Gayle, the man England would like the see the back of in the decider.

Indeed, such has been Gayle’s form in this series that it has led him to reconsider his decision to retire after the World Cup. Two hundreds and a fifty in three innings, an average of 115.67, a strike rate of 120, 30 sixes – everything indicate a comeback. Shimron Hetmyer, too, got a dazzling hundred in the second ODI.

Despite that, there is no doubt that England have been more formidable as a unit. All seven men in their top order have topped the 90-mark in strike rates, the list being dominated by Jos Buttler (169) and Jason Roy (144).

Expect fireworks at St Lucia, plenty of them.

Head to head

England have won 51 ODIs and lost 43 against West Indies with a win-loss ratio of 1.19. At home, however, West Indies hold a 22-17 advantage.

However, the corresponding numbers for this decade read 7 (14 wins, 2 defeats) and 3.5 (7 wins, 2 defeats). There is no doubt that England are overwhelming favourites.

Venue details

One salient feature of St Lucia has been the supremacy of the side batting second. The side batting first have won 10 times while targets have been chased down on 15 occasions.

West Indies have won 7 and lost 11 matches at St Lucia. They did beat Afghanistan in the last decided match here, in 2017, but had lost 4 and tied 1 in the 5 matches before that.

However, of these 7 wins, 2 have come against England in 3 matches, on consecutive days in 2004, where West Indies chased down near-identical targets of 282 and 281. In their other match at the same ground – a rain-affected one – Andrew Flintoff guided England to a 26-run win.

The average score in this decade here has been 235. Fans should expect a low-scoring contest.

Players to watch

Chris Gayle (West Indies): Universe Boss is back, and how! Let alone a bilateral series, nobody has hit more sixes in any series or tournament in any format in international cricket. Gayle has already hit 30 with one match to go (and one more was abandoned). He broke the record of 26 sixes in the 2015 World Cup set by – who else? – Gayle himself.

Mark Wood (England): In a series where every single bowler has conceded over 6 an over irrespective of the number of overs bowled, Wood has gone for 5.44 an over and has averaged 29.40 as well.

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), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

Prediction

A stronger all-round side, England will take field as favourites despite the Gayle factor.