WI vs ENG 2nd Match Prediction

WI vs ENG Team Previews

West Indies

The failure to qualify for the ODI World Cup meant that the West Indies had a hiatus of over 3 months from international commitments. The break seems to have worked well for them as they thrashed the visitors by 4 wickets in a high-scoring encounter and now have the chance to claim the series.

It wasn’t the best of starts to the match for the West Indies as after being asked to bowl first, Romario Shepherd and Alzarri Joseph weren’t effective enough with the new ball. The introduction of Gudakesh Motie helped slow down the scoring rate and also provided a much-needed breakthrough.

Motie was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets for just 49 runs even as the bowlers around him continued to leak runs. Yannic Cariah was especially expensive, giving away 76 runs in his spell. Chasing a daunting target of 326, Alick Athanaze and Brandon King gave the hosts a strong start, putting up a century stand for the opening wicket.

However, the openers and Keacy Carty bowed out in quick succession, threatening to derail the chase. Skipper Shai Hope rose to the occasion, stitching an important partnership with Hetmeyer to keep his team in the hunt, and went on to score a memorable century.

Romario Shepherd played a brilliant cameo, scoring 49 runs off just 28 deliveries that helped the team cross the line. 

England

Miseries continue to pile up on the England team. After a dismal World Cup performance, the team now faces the prospect of losing its first bilateral series against the West Indies in almost 4 years.

The visitors had made quite a few changes to its squad from the World Cup, retaining only 6 players from there. However, that seemed to have no bearing on the team’s fortunes. Phil Salt and Will Jacks gave the team a brisk start, scoring 77 runs in the first 8 overs.

England however continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, preventing them from taking full advantage of that start. Zak Crawley and Harry Brook were two solid performers in the middle order, with the latter going on to score a half-century.

However, the form of Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, and Liam Livingstone remains a bit of a concern. The bowling wasn’t great either.

Sam Curran remained wicketless and went for 10 runs per over. Similarly, Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson were seen struggling too. Rehan Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets and will once again play an important role in this match.