Cricket: West Indies v England T20 Series - Match Two Preview

West Indies v England 

Five-match T20 series – Match Two, January 23

Kensington Oval, Barbados (8pm UK)

England had a shocker with the bat last night, posting only 103 all out on a challenging Kensington Oval pitch as they lost the series opener by nine wickets.

Even so, they still came up trumps and nailed one of our tips, the 7/4 shot on hitting more sixes than the West Indies – six to one.

Call me boring, but I would be recommending another dart at the same bet tonight given, surprisingly, the odds remain unchanged at 7/4 with bet365.

Despite the batting failures of last night, England’s batting line-up just fills me with more confidence than the West Indies and has plenty of power. Just think, six-hitting machine Liam Livingstone was not involved last night due to illness (not Covid).

Mills could be the play for England top bowler

Adil Rashid, on his 200th international appearance, was the pick of England’s bowlers last night, returning 1-21 from his four overs of leg-spin. And he is the favourite to be England’s top bowler again this evening at 11/4.

While I wouldn’t discourage anyone who wanted to side with Rashid, I am keen to look a bit further down the list and go with left-arm seamer Tymal Mills at 3/1 with series sponsors Betway.

The pitch was clearly a tricky one to bat on last night, two-paced with uneven bounce.

And I thought Mills bowled nicely (0-20 from 3.1 overs) against a WIndies batting line-up who hardly took a chance against anyone given they weren’t faced with a sizeable total.

They wanted to make absolutely sure of the win. But the likelihood is they will have to take more chances this evening because, surely, England won’t bat as badly again.

Mills arrived in the Caribbean in good form having taken eight wickets in his last four Big Bash games for Perth Scorchers, while he also claimed three wickets in a warm-up win against a Barbados Cricket Association President’s XI in the week.

He is almost certain to bowl at the death with the slog on, heightening the chances of a wicket or two.

England should still win the series 

Eoin Morgan’s men are the number one ranked T20 side in the world, and the second best ODI team, for a reason.

And they should recover to win this five-match T20 series against a West Indies side who haven’t exactly set the world alight of late.

Kieron Pollard and co proved they can be dangerous, but will they be able to string consistent performances together? It is doubtful.