England’s recent struggles in white-ball cricket continued with a 2-1 defeat in their ODI series against the West Indies; read our West Indies T20 Series Preview ahead of the opening T20i.
West Indies T20 Series Preview 2024
So they will hope that the return of limited-overs skipper Jos Buttler for five T20s against the Windies, which begin at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday, will spark an upturn in fortunes.
England opted for an inexperienced line-up in the 50-over matches and it showed. The tourists were outclassed by the West Indies in Wednesday’s decider, when the hosts chased down a total of 264 for the loss of only two wickets and with seven overs to spare.
T20 Series Preview: England still Struggling
England’s bowling has been a major issue in white-ball cricket recently and some poor performances with the ball continued to blight them in the three one-day internationals. Despite all the talk of an inexperienced team, 2019 Cricket World Cup winners Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid also failed to sparkle.
Archer finished the series with one wicket from 23 overs while Rashid signed off with 0-51 in Wednesday’s final encounter. Stand-in skipper Liam Livingston tried seven different bowlers in that decider but could not prevent the West Indies sauntering to an eight-wicket success. England have lost three of their last five T20 outings and they have struggled against the Windies in the shortest format previously.
The hosts, who are arguably at their strongest in the 20-over arena, have won four of the last seven T20 meetings with England and completed a series clean sweep over South Africa recently. England are 1.70 favourites to draw first blood in the five-match series on Saturday, but they have lacked direction for a while now and the West Indies could take advantage once more in Bridgetown, Barbados.
T20 Series Preview: Fast Start
England’s bowling issues allowed the West Indies to get off to a solid start in each of the three one-day internationals this month. Conditions at the Kensington Oval tend to favour batters and there is every chance that the Windies could again get off to a flyer.
The hosts made opening stands of 118, 37 and 42 in the three-match ODI series and a first-wicket runs line of at least 21 looks well within their openers’ grasp.
T20 Series Preview: Home Firepower
Jos Buttler’s return adds some dynamism to England’s batting unit but, even with their captain back in the side, the tourists may still lack the firepower of the West Indies. The Windies possess six-hitters all the way down their batting order and they could boss the maximums count in Barbados.
The West Indies hit 64 sixes to England’s 38 at this year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, so backing the home team to clear the rope more often in Saturday’s first clash looks a safe play. Regardless, pressure is mounting on English cricket’s leaders from a white-ball perspective as Jos Buttler looks to keep the captaincy heading into next World Cup.
England v West Indies: T20 Series Preview Tips
-West Indies to win first T20 @ 1.90
-West Indies total at first dismissal over 20.5 runs @ 1.80
-West Indies to hit the most sixes @ 1.95
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