England and West Indies will battle it out in first encounter of ICC World T20 2016, Group 1. West Indies after lot of off-field trouble finally are all set to play the mega event. All the seniors’ players are back and will be looking to start off with the win. On the other hand England have been playing aggressive brand of cricket and have one all of their Warm Up matches. They are termed as dark horses of thee tournament in Group 1, if they win tomorrow it will open the group wide open.
England vs West Indies, ICC World T20 2016: Preview
West Indies have not played T20 international since November 2015 so they haven’t had much time in the middle but most of players have played T20 cricket in almost every league like Big Bash and PSL and have been performing well for their franchises. England on the other hand lost to away series to South Africa recently but their performance in warm up matches might have given them a huge morale booster.
Head to head West Indies has the upper hand winning 8 and loosing 4 against England. It will be a battle of big hitting from the likes of Gayle, Russel, Sammy, Bravo and Buttler, Hales, Morgan and Root.
Team Preview – West Indies
Return of experience players like Gayle, Bravo, Sammy and Russell will only strengthen this T20 side. Many of the West Indies players has lot of experience in playing on sub-continent conditions as they have been regular names in IPL cricket. West Indies would be missing services of Pollard and Naraine but they have enough fire power to win against the best. West Indies won 1 and lost 1 in the two warm up matches. West Indies will be looking for a winning start to their World T20 campaign.
Team News
West Indies batting order looked quite settled with lots of all-rounders. Only difficult decision for them would be deciding whether to go with extra spinner or not.
Probable XI: Gayle, Charles, Samuels, Ramdin, Bravo, Russell, Sammy, Holder, Badree, Benn, Taylor
Team Preview – England
England would be pretty confident going into the tournament as they have won both their warm up games. T20 being the only ICC trophy England has won might give them confidence. Form of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali with the bowl could be crucial in Indian conditions. Presence of All-rounders has strengthened this England T20 outfit; it’s just if they perform to their potential they have very good chance of beating West Indies.
Team News
England has the luxury of lot of all-rounders in the side. They play with as many as 7 bowlers and 9 batmen and have that extra depth in their squad. The decision for them would be choose between Willey who has played for them in the past matches or go for extra pace of Plunkett.
Probable XI: Hales, Roy, Root, Morgan, Buttler, Stokes, Moeen Ali, Jordan, Rashid, Plunkett/Willey, Topley
Match Facts
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Mumbai track has lot of runs on it. With both the team batting heavy it could prove to be one of the high scoring matches. Team winning the toss might look to bowl first as chase as many as opposition scores because dew factor might come in later in the evening.
Date: 16th March, 2015
Time: 19:30 IST
Coverage: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD
Tags: Cricket, England, ICC World T20 2016, Mumbai, Preview, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD, T20 World Cup, Wankhede Stadium, West Indies
