The last time these two teams met was when England toured the West Indies at the beginning of this year. England were expected to win the five-match ODI series with ease. But it turned to be a grim affair for the English side as West Indies shared the spoils 2-2.
Chris Gayle pummelled the English bowling by scoring truckloads of runs, and suddenly West Indies got the tag of 'dark horse' for the ICC World Cup 2019.
West Indies have won one and lost one till now, with the match against South Africa being abandoned due to rain. Their fast bowling unit has been impressive, using short ball tactics perfectly. They lack a good spinner though and that could hurt them in the middle overs. Also, their batting has looked sloppy at times as the batsmen have failed to convert their starts.
England, after their shock defeat against Pakistan, bounced back to decimate Bangladesh. With Jofra Archer and Mark Wood cranking up the speedometer and Adil Rashid providing the balance in the spin department, England have all departments covered. But the match against West Indies is going to be a good test for their batting line-up as the West Indians will look to dish out some hostile fast bowling.
There will be one mini-battle in the match, giving it an interesting subplot: Archer vs the West Indies batting might. Jason Holder, when asked whether Archer could get a chance in his team, replied, "He is English, so no." Enough to fire up someone like Archer to hurl meteors at the opposition.
Probable XI:
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(wk), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood/Tom Curran
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope(wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder(c), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
Betting odds: According to Oddschecker, England 2/5, West Indies 9/4