Twenty20 / Andrew Hughes / 22 September 2011 /

A Who's Who might be useful on Friday as two teams full of unfamiliar faces meet at the Oval. Andrew Hughes tells us why he's backing England's young guns to prevail and Ravi Bopara to be the star of the show.

Team News
England's batting order pretty much picks itself. Alex Hales and Craig Kieswetter will open together for the second time in T20 internationals, Ravi Bopara becomes the senior batsman and will presumably bat at three, followed by the youngsters Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. With Samit Patel and Graeme Swann on the field, there may be no place for spinners Danny Briggs or Scott Borthwick and James Anderson is likely to get the nod ahead of Steven Finn

The West Indies are missing seven first choice players thanks to the Champions League though Dwayne Smith and Fidel Edwards are back and with quick Andre Fletcher and the ICC Newcomer of the Year in spinner Devendra Bishoo, the bowling has some strength. But the batting looks very weak. Newcomers Johnson Charles and Miles Bascombe are likely to open, Marlon Samuels will be at three and Danza Hyatt, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Smith make up the middle order.

Venue and Conditions
For the time of year, Friday's forecast is pretty good and we should avoid a Duckworth Lewis affected game. The Oval pitch is usually a good one to bat on but it may be slightly slow after a long season and there could also be a hint of dew around under lights later on. It is worth noting that three out of four day night Twenty20 internationals here have been won by the team batting first.

Match Odds
These are the games that no-one wanted, the legacy of the ECB's foolish dalliance with Allen Stanford, but it is a chance for England to give more valuable experience to some talented youngsters and Graeme Swann's captaincy debut is sure to make for entertaining viewing.

The home side are favourites and rightly so. Though the West Indies have won two of the three Twenty20 matches they've played against England on this ground, they are without Chris Gayle, Keiron Pollard and co this time around and are surely going to struggle in autumnal English conditions, particularly as they've had no warm-up matches. Confidence is high in the England camp and they should have more than enough firepower to roll the Windies over at [1.35]

Top Batsman
There are some exciting youngsters in the England batting line-up and Alex Hales and Craig Kieswetter will be given licence to attack from the start. But the man to be on is Ravi Bopara, who should relish the opportunity to fill the senior batsman role at number three. He should be backed at [4.8] or better

It's a harder job picking the top batsman from amongst the West Indies batting order, which is long on inexperience and short on runs. Marlon Samuels is not a bad call at [5.0] but of the younger batsmen, Jamaican Danza Hyatt boasts the best T20 domestic average and is as good as any at [6.0] or better

Recommended bet:

Ravi Bopara to top score for England @ [4.8]

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