West Indies v England First T20: Powerful Windies underrated again

• West Indies outsiders

• Bridgetown has been full of runs

• Hosts packed with bat power

West Indies v England
Tuesday 12 December, 22:00
TV: Live on TNT Sports

West Indies v England First T20 team news

West Indies have their big-gun franchise players available, notably Nic Pooran, Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein and Kyle Mayers. Rovman Powell returns to lead a team which could produce some powerful performances so long as they play for each other rather than the next contract.

Where they also look vulnerable is with the ball. There is an absence of pace in the squad. This means they will bat all the way down to No 11 but there is no-one to hurry the England batters.

Possible XI: King, Mayers, Pooran, Hope, Powell, Hetmyer, Russell, Shepherd, Holder, Forde, Akeal

England have gone the other way, packing their squad with fast bowlers. Reece Topley, Gus Atkinson, Tymal Mills, John Turner and Chris Woakes are all available. They also have two specialist spin options in Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed.

The best balance of the XI will take some working out. They could pick an extra batter in Ben Duckett, although that would mean either he or someone else would play out of position. Or they go with an option like Woakes.

Possible XI: Buttler, Salt, Jacks, Brook, Moeen, Livingstone, S Curran, Woakes, Rashid, Topley, Atkinson

West Indies v England First T20 pitch report

In the six matches played at Bridgetown in the 2023 Caribbean Premier League there were some big first-innings scores. More than 180 was busted four times, including Patriots' 220 against the Royals in the last game which was chased down with 11 balls to spare.

In the five games the sides played at this ground last year, more than 170 was busted in four of them.

Unfortunately a bit of rain around prevents us from being confident about backing 180 or more on the first-innings runs.

West Indies v England First T20 match odds

West Indies are 2.285/4 with England 1.768/11. It looks another poor price about an England team which has taken their eye off the ball after claiming a world title.

Since winning the World T20 in Australia, they have lost five of their last seven. Compare that to West Indies who have beaten South Africa and India in their last two series.

West Indies also beat England 3-2 in a series at this venue last year so it very much has the feel of a choice affair.

The make-up of the Windies is not ideal but there is no denying this is their best format and they have unrivalled potential power with the bat. They should be capable of at least flipping the odds.

West Indies v England First T20 player bets

Powell will have the feelgood factor. He smashed England from 107 off 53 last year at Bridgetown. Sportsbook go 7/18.00 that he top scores for the hosts. Finding a winner for England on the top bats is tricky because we're unsure of how they order their batters. Phil Salt made a 50 in that game mentioned from the middle order for example. He is 7/24.50.