THE EDGE: The Edge previews the 3rd T20 between WEST INDIES v ENGLAND with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
West Indies v England 3rd T20
MATCH OVERVIEW:
West Indies and England move onto the 3rd T20 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange as the sides move to Gros Islet on Thursday. After an embarrassing 2-1 ODI series defeat and plenty of questions put to the players and coaches, England look a lot more comfortable in the T20 format and take a 2-0 lead into this T20. The fixture list of this series is a little odd – we have the first two T20’s over the weekend and then it’s been a three day break to this game, before we finish the five T20 series at the weekend again. It’s definitely to get the locals in the ground, along with British tourists, however usually we have day-on-day-off schedules with T20’s these days!
This has been a very young England side, and you have to say they have been pretty impressive in the T20’s. Obviously a debate for another day is the 50 over system in the UK – that’s definitely not at the standard needed and it’s not a surprise that England have struggled so badly in that format. The 50 over competition runs along the Hundred, so no International standard players play the 50 over games because they are clearly in demand. That leads to young players not having had the reps done, or game situations to learn from domestically. That’s a debate that will rumble on, but for the time being England don’t want to change much as T20 cricket goes!
The West Indies batting hasn’t really fired in the T20 series so far – that’s something that needs to improve if they’re going to bounce back. In truth, they’ve been miles off when you see how easily England have chased – even with Barbados being a good chasing ground. Another interesting game awaits!
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
The sides move to Gros Islet in St Lucia for the final three T20’s. The West Indies always pick the popular British tourist spots for the England tours, and St Lucia isn’t a surprise along with Barbados! We had the T20 World Cup here during the summer, so there was a high volume of cricket six fixtures here. We did have associates playing so obviously there is a gulf in class there but it was a high scoring ground. Scotland scored 180 batting first against Australia for example before it was chased down. It paid to bat first, apart from England chasing down 180/4 from the West Indies in the Super Eights. India beat Australia here too with 205/5 and Australia could only reply with 181/7.
RECOMMENDED BET:
We should have an interesting game here. England chased down two scores exceptionally easily in the opening two T20’s – if you believe the stats it will pay to bat first here though so it’ll be an interesting decision at the toss. England are the favourites at 1.84 which isn’t surprising, I thought West Indies would perform better after seeing the ODI’s to be honest but their batting just hasn’t fired in this format yet. I do feel the toss is quite important, and I do feel batting first will offer an edge in good batting conditions. I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see England want to chase given their last two games, but I still feel a small bet on the side who bats first here is a nice option.
The Edge Says:
One point win the Side Who Bats First (England 1.84, West Indies 2.16) with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/WIEng3
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
It’s hard to see either bowling side being on top here looking at conditions – the only worry about that angle is that clearly the West Indies batters haven’t fired yet in the T20’s. I’d expect a high scoring game here though, and I’d be keen to support the side who bats first – that angle did very well in the T20 World Cup and we can see some serious run rate pressure. If we got a heavy dew though I would consider trading out at the innings break.
