England clash with West Indies in Dubai in the second of Saturday's T20 World Cup matches, it's a repeat of the 2016 World T20 final and England are firm favourites to make a winning start.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
England
Long term odds
To win the tournament 7/2 (2nd favourites behind India (2/1)
Top England batsmen in the tournament Jos Buttler 2/1
Top England bowler in the tournament Adil Rashid 12/5
To hit the most 6's in the tournament 4/1
T20 World Cup form
In 6 previous editions England have made the final twice, beating Australia (in West Indies) in 2010 and then losing a memorable game to West Indies (in India) in 2016. England won 3 and lost 1 of their group matches in the 2016 tournament and that defeat also came at the hands of West Indies in what was their opening match.
Recent Form
England are looking to add the T20 crown to the ODI title they currently hold. Their warm up matches delivered contrasting fortunes, on Monday they lost to India by 7 wickets, posting 188/5 (Bairstow 49) which was chased down with 1 over to spare. On Wednesday England posted 163/6 against New Zealand (Buttler 73) and they defended it successfully for a 13 run victory (Wood 4/23).
West Indies
Long term odds
To win the tournament 7/1
Top WI batsmen in the tournament Evin Lewis 12/5
Top WI bowler in the tournament Obed McCoy 11/4
To hit the most 6's in the tournament 2/1 favourites
T20 World Cup form
West Indies lost just 1 match on their way to the 2010 title and they were also crowned champions in their only other appearance in the final when they beat host nation Sri Lanka in 2012.
Recent Form
West Indies lost their first warm up match against Pakistan by 7 wickets, posting just 130/7 which was chased down in 15.3 overs. On Wednesday they lost again, this time to Afghanistan when West Indies chase of 190 for victory came up 56 runs short despite an unbeaten 54 from Roston Chase.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 18 times with England winning 7 to West Indies 11
The most recent meetings came in a 3 match series in West Indies in March 2019 and England completed a 3-0 clean sweep.
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The Betting
England are currently trading at around 8/13 to win the game and West Indies can be backed at around 13/10
England are 14/10 to hit the most 6's with the West Indies 15/20 and a tie is 7/1
The highest first 6 overs total market has England at 4/6 and West Indies are 12/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
West Indies were poor in the warm ups and they have been inconsistent in this format over the last 12 months or so. England also have a couple of question marks against them including the below par form of some key players.
My focus is on England to hit the most 6's. When West Indies have a bad day it can all go horribly wrong and whilst 6 hitting is their forte, England also have some big guns and the price looks decent to me.
Additional interest comes in the top bat and ball markets. Mark Wood gets my vote to be top England bowler and whilst Nicolas Pooran comes in down the order, perhaps at 5, he has been worth following in top WI bat markets in recent times.
Bets: England to hit the most 6's at 14/10.
Top England Bowler Mark Wood at 7/2
Top WI Bat Nicolas Pooran at 6/1
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
