West Indies and England will set horns in Barbados on 11th November, 2024 in the second T20I of the series. England won the first T20 thanks to heroics from Phil Salt.
Match Preview:
It looked like England faced no problem in the first T20 of the series, they looked smooth and calm. Although Buttler failed to make a strong comeback to international cricket as a batsman, he must have felt good as a captain.
“[Captaincy] is something I’ve really enjoyed the honour of doing and something I believe I can do well. When you really come down to it and think about the decision you’re going to make, it actually becomes very clear that now you’re determined to do it and keep going.”
Buttler, however, must be thankful to Phil Salt as he played a great knock of 103 runs and stayed unbeaten till the very end. The opener struck 9 boundaries and 6 sixes in his match-winning knock and he was well-supported by Jacob Bethell who scored 58 off 36.
Saqib Mahmood was the pick of the bowlers for the English side as he took 4 wickets for 34.
Talking about the West Indies side, Andre Russell performed well with the bat scoring 30 off 17 and Gudakesh Motie chipping in with late fireworks scoring 33 off 14. West Indies will look to bounce back and they need to correct their flaws both in the batting and bowling unit. Nicholas Pooran and Shamar Joseph will be the key players for the side.
Rovamn Powell who scored 18 off 10 was hopeful that his team has the ability to bounce back from any situation.
“Having said that, we have capable replacements and when you look at the team and look at the bench strength, there are players in the wings who are waiting, so it’s an opportunity for somebody to step up and be counted,” Powell said
Probable Playing XI:
West Indies will be led by Rovman Powell. They will look to play an extra bowler as they struggled to complete the quota of some of their bowlers in the previous match.
West Indies: (possible) 1 Brandon King, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Rovman Powell (capt), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Roston Chase/Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Matthew Forde, 11 Shamar Joseph
England will likely go in the second encounter with the same lineup.
England: (possible) 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Will Jacks, 3Jos Buttler (capt), 4 Jacob Bethell, 5 Liam Livingstone 6 Dan Mousley, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jamie Overton 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Saqib Mehmood 11 Reece Topley
Pitch and weather report:
The pitch of Barbados was one of the highest scoring venues during the T20 World Cup 2024. But as Buttler said the pitch was two-paced. So, bowlers will have a more important role to play in the upcoming T20 between the two sides.
Head-to-head record:
A total of 31 T20I matches are played between England and West Indies. West Indies lead the charge with 17 victories before their name while England has won 14 games thus far.
Predictions:
If Phil Salt continues his rich-form and bowlers keep their line and length in check, England can win the second T20 of the series.
Where to watch:
West Indies: Flow Sports App
UK: TNT Sports
India: FanCode
Pakistan: Tapmad
