England vs West Indies LIVE: T20 World Cup latest score and updates
Follow all the action from the Dubai International Stadium
Follow all the action as England begin their T20 World Cup campaign against reigning champions West Indies.
Eoin Morgan’s side will attempt to banish the woes of 2016 when Carlos Braithwaite hit four monstrous sixes in the final over to vanquish Ben Stokes and complete a tremendous chase. “It’s definitely going to be in the back of their minds. For us to be in that situation and get over the line, it shows that sort of never-say-die attitude,” said West Indies captain Kieran Pollard, who missed the final due to injury five years ago. “I thought what Carlos did in those four deliveries in that last over, it’s unbelievable. It’s something that as a team we actually saw last night and it brought goosebumps back to us.”
Morgan has kept his cards close to his chest over his team selection, with plenty of scrutiny on the captain himself due to his poor recent form, and England can afford few slip-ups in a tricky group. If they can prevail in spin-friendly conditions in Dubai, though, and add the T20 World Cup to their ODI crowd, Morgan will go down as one of cricket’s great captains. “The name of the country on the shirt is irrelevant really when it comes to a World Cup,” he said of the task in front of his team. “You need to prove your worth through performance.” Follow all the latest updates below:
A crucial toss?
Chasing in Twenty20 cricket tends to be the favoured approach and England have been expecting heavy dew during this competition, which should help their batters as the ball begins to slide on later and bowlers start to lose their grip. You’d say Eoin Morgan will be rather pleased to have a chance to chase a total down - it was a strategy that worked so well in the lead up to and at the 2019 World Cup, of course.
Team News - West Indies
The West Indies have gone with one specialist spinner, darty left-armer Akeal Hosein, and loaded up on seamers with Obed McCoy and Ravi Rampaul getting the nod ahead of Oshane Thomas’ muscular pace. They join Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell as likely bowling options with Kieron Pollard perhaps set to contribute, too, but Chris Gayle might need to toss up some of his off-breaks against England’s left-handers if the pitch turns.
West Indies XI: Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy, Ravi Rampaul
Team News - England
Big news - Mark Wood is OUT for England. Eoin Morgan reveals that both he and Tom Curran are struggling with knocks and are thus unavailable.
Tymal Mills makes his first England appearance for more than three years, while Dawid Malan does line up in the middle order, which should be pretty flexible.
Time for the toss and the team news...
A slight over-run in Abu Dhabi means the toss has been delayed only slightly in Dubai to appease the broadcasters, but the toss is imminent. Eoin Morgan and Kieron Pollard are out there with their respective elevens ready to be exchanged - have England kept faith with Dawid Malan? Will the West Indies pick Obed McCoy or Oshane Thomas? Let’s find out...
Australia beat South Africa
But first, it’s all over in Abu Dhabi, and Australia have squeezed over the line! Nerveless cameos from Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade, out of position in the lower middle-order but experienced heads precisely for such a situation, saw them home with two balls to spare. That’s a crucial opening win for an Australian side who will be dangerous if they play to their potential.
Having favoured a batting heavy strategy but still impressed with the ball, Australia are off the mark - they are likely to be the biggest dangers to the West Indies and England who are the favourites to progress from this group.
England vs West Indies - What about Phil Simmons’ side?
This could be the Last Dance for this team of West Indian world-beaters, with all but one of their globe-trotting superstars safely back in the fold and fully up to speed ahead of the tournament. The absence of Sunil Narine, a true pioneer of this format, is a real shame, not least for the drop-off in quality in the spinning ranks, but otherwise this is a fearsome line-up.
In Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell they are able to call upon perhaps three of the five best T20 players of all-time, awhile Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer represent the next generation of ferocious ball-strikers who could star at this tournament
They also have questions of how to balance their team, particularly after spinning all-rounder and outstanding fielder Fabian Allen was ruled out with injury - in fact, let’s find out how the two sides have balanced their elevens...
England vs West Indies - Is Malan the man?
Another batter out of form is Dawid Malan, who may be the top-ranked T20 international men’s batter in the world but has faced a real battle to remain in a fearsome batting line-up. His slow-starting style, exacerbated on pitches that take turn like those in the UAE are anticipated to, is at odds with England’s favoured all guns blazing approach, and the lack of Stokes and S.Curran means Malan might be most vulnerable if England decide they need an extra seamer to balance their side.
If they do, David Willey and Chris Woakes are vying for a spot as a powerplay specialist who also lends batting depth, though England may instead opt to go batting heavy and rely on Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali’s more part-time wiles. The latter’s off-spin could match up well against a West Indian top five likely to contain four left-handers.
England vs West Indies - England’s missing men
Right, let’s talk about today’s encounter, and let’s first focus on Eoin Morgan’s England. Six months ago they would have rated as perhaps joint favourites for this competition but they have been wounded since by a number of high-profile absentees, Sam Curran latterly joining Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes on the list of absentees. The three would all have been likely starters to also lend vital balance to Morgan’s line-up, and with the trio not in the UAE the World Cup winning captain must reconsider his options.
His plans have also been complicated by a lack of relative form for some of his key men, not least himself. Morgan is enduring an annus horribilis with the bat, struggling in the recent IPL on these very same pitches and beginning to look a spent force. He has tended to suffer peaks and troughs in his career but rarely have the dips been so deep or long.
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