West Indies v India Second T20 Tips: Windies hitters can pull off shock

Ed Hawkins
31 July 2022

Yadav is 4/1 for top India bat

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Ed Hawkins says the hosts can perform if they bat first and finds wagers at 19/1 and 5/1 for the action from Basseterre on Monday...

"There can be no guarantee he bats there again but he should be priced accordingly. We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't back him"

(0.5pts) Back Jason Holder top West Indies bat 20.019/1

West Indies v India
Monday 1 August 15:30
TV: live on BT Sport

Small mercy for hosts

West Indies produced a disappointing effort against India in game one. They failed to produce a bowling display of worth. And then they followed it up with something of a disaster of the bat. Room for improvement is an understatement.

With the ball their all=-rounders let them down. It''s not often that Jason Holder goes for 12.50 an over. When combined with costly Odean Smith and Keemo Paul (no surprise on both) they were always going to struggle.

If they're also going to pick Alzarri Joseph, who can be potent but pricey it's something of a muddle. India picking three spinners might inspire them to give Hayden Walsh a game.

It was interesting to see Shimron Hetmyer return. He adds some potential middle-order hitting power. The batting order looks fluid. Holder batted at No 3 and returned a duck. Smith and Akeal Hosein could be tried there. Brandon King may return as opener at some stage.

Possible XI: Mayers, Brooks, Holder, Pooran, Powell, Hetmyer, Smith, Akeal, Paul, Joseph, McCoy

Small mercy for hosts

India's chosen XI was something of a surprise and how they set up. Opening the batting with Suryakumar Yadav - sensational as a finisher against England only weeks ago - was a left-field pick. Ravi Ashwin's return likewise considering Axar Patel's form.

Game two will prove whether India see this as a purely experimental series. It is not unlikely that they try out various combinations as they look to move on for Virat Kohli. Alternatively conspiracy theorists could see it as a strategy to ensure no-one stakes a consistent claim for his role.

Deepak Hooda and Ishan Kishan might come in for Shreyas Iyer who has had white-ball opportunity in the ODI. We expect Axar to come back in at some stage, too.

Pacers Arshdeep Singh and Bhuv Kumar kept out Harshal Patel and they auditioned superbly to join Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami in a strongest XI.

Possible XI: Rohit, Yadav, Pant/Hooda, Hardik, Karthik, Jadeja, Ashwin, Kumar, Arshdeep, Bishnoi

Pitch report

Warner Park is well-known after last season's CPL staged 33 matches. Of those, 16 first-innings returned scores of 160 or more. It is one of the better batting surfaces in the tournament and there were some monster totals last year. There were seven scores of 190 or more, including Jamaica's 255 against St Lucia.

It's not good for everyone, though. Both teams busted 160 only six times in that study period so if we're going for runs we're doing so in the first-innings. India could well be on for another high score and if we can get over the runs par line in the low 180s we'll play. Bet the runs line here

Windies can tarde

West Indies are 1.981/1 with India 1.491/2. Given the state of the pitch and the importance of the chance to put runs on the board the hosts shouldn't be discounted.

Their price is something of a hangover from their ODI form, which is appalling. As discussed in game one they are a much better T20 team and can go blow-to-blow with the best. Don't forget they beat England at home in a series.

Indeed, there is much to like about that middle-order axis of Pooran-Powell-Hetmyer. And there's nowt wrong with the intent of using Holder as a pinch-hitter. They just need to bat first for us to trade them into close to even money.

Tops value

There are mistakes on the top runscorer lists for both teams from Sportsbook. First up, Holder has been priced at 19/1. There can be no guarantee he bats there again but he should be priced accordingly. We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't back him.

Secondly, Suryakaumar Yadav, who opened, is 4/1. He's priced top bat at No 4. So again by the letter of the value law we have to get involved. Unlike Holder we have no concerns with Yadav that he has the ability to do something special so well will stake accordingly. Bet Sportsbook here here. Hardi Pandya looks a little chunky at 15/2, too.