CRICKET WORLD CUP: Fingers crossed the rain stays away in Southampton with ENGLAND facing the WEST INDIES. Gerard Browne previews what should be a cracker with a BETDAQ verdict on the game.
It has been a frustrating week at the ICC Cricket World Cup. Three of the four games have been abandoned after a week of heavy rain. Australia vs India on Wednesday have been the only game where we seen a result. West Indies will be hoping to avoid a second No Result inside five days vs Hosts England at the Rose Bowl, Southampton on Friday. England will enter this game as favourites on the Betdaq Exchange priced at 1.28. West Indies are priced at 3.5.
England gave the perfect response to their shock lose to Pakistan by comprehensively beating Bangladesh by 106 runs in Cardiff last Saturday. There innings of 386 is the highest in the tournament so far. Apart from poor fielding vs Pakistan, England have not put a foot wrong. Jason Roy is delivering on his pre-tournament form and got his century of the World Cup, finishing on an impressive 153 runs from 121 balls. England look like they can get runs from anywhere. Joe Root hit a century vs Pakistan. Ben Stokes and Jos Butler have both twice scored over 50 runs. Jofra Archer is also grabbing plenty of attention with his bowling displays, claiming six wickets. It is all the more impressive considering he only made his ODI debut vs Ireland last month.
West Indies have already felt the force of what a British summer can offer on Monday. Their game vs South Africa was abandoned after 7.2 overs. They will be still wondering what could have been vs Australia last week. They kept Australia under 300 after bowling them out for 288. That left them in a healthy position for victory but they couldn’t take advantage. The turning point was losing their 7th, 8th and 9th wickets for just 4 runs. This all occurred from 45.3 overs to 47.3 overs. Ultimately they lost by 15 runs.
There is rain forecasted in the morning but it is promised to clear by midday so hopefully we will have a full day play. England are fully aware of the threat West Indies carry. The sides drew an ODI series in West Indies back in February. Osahne Thomas and Carlos Brathwaithe are in good form with the ball in hand. We all know Chris Gayle can be unstoppable on his day and Shai Hope is performing strongly with the bat. England were caught on the hop by Pakistan. However their display vs Bangladesh suggested its going to take a very good team to catch them off guard again. I think West Indies will make it a hard game for them but I don’t see them getting over the line.
Verdict: England
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