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Cricket betting tips and preview: England and West Indies renew hostilities
The Super 12s of the T20 World Cup begins on Saturday with England taking on reigning champions West Indies in Dubai – Richard Mann previews the action.
Cricket tips: England v West Indies, October 23
2pts Jos Buttler top England match batsman at 11/4 (Betfred)
1pt Jos Buttler to be Man of the Match at 8/1 (bet365, Sky Bet)
1pt Roston Chase to be Man of the Match at 20/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair)
Much water has passed under the bridge since Carlos Brathwaite broke English hearts in 2016, blasting four sixes from the first four balls of the final over of the T20 World Cup final to send a distraught Ben Stokes to his knees and the Caribbean into a frenzy. England have since won a World Cup of their own, the 50-over version in 2019, while the West Indies continue to do their thing.
Neither Brathwaite nor Stokes will be there to renew hostilities on Saturday, nor Marlon Samuels who will not be missed. Samuels' presence might still be felt in the West Indies dressing room, though, with captain Kieron Pollard confirming that ROSTON CHASE has been brought into the squad to carry out that same 'anchor' role in this tournament.
To be described as an anchor doesn't do Samuels or Chase justice, given both can score quickly, and the latter booked his ticket to the World Cup with a brilliant Caribbean Premier League that saw him plunder 446 runs at a strike-rate of 144.33. Still, with a batting line-up packed full of big hitters, there is the need for someone to control the innings from number three or four and Chase – with five Test hundreds to his name – looks an ideal fit for the role.
I've made the case in my specials preview for why Chase is in my World Cup staking plan and I think he could be worth having on side against England in the Man (or player, depending on which firm you bet with) of the Match market. While his batting puts him firmly in the mix, his very handy off spin could be a big weapon for the West Indies at this World Cup and it's worth remembering that he has claimed three five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
England's batting is obviously strong, but they could field three left-handers in their top seven, thus bringing Chase into the game with the ball, as well as with the bat when he should be able to go about his business and steadily accumulate runs while his teammates are tasked with taking more risks. I expect him to have a good tournament.
England will go off favourites for this one, which is probably fair enough given how they have dominated white-ball cricket for a number of years now, but like all across the UAE, there was a strong toss bias favouring the chaser at this ground in the Indian Premier League and I don't want a bet in the match market at this stage.
Were England to come out on the right side of the toss, they could easily prove hard to beat given how adept they are at chasing down big totals, but I do think much rests on the batting of JOS BUTTLER and Jonny Bairstow. Both are giants of the limited-overs formats with strong records and the ability to score quickly in all conditions.
With Moeen Ali likely to find himself batting too low, I think we can concentrate on Buttler and Bairstow, and with the former confirmed to continue opening the batting, he makes the most appeal. Buttler averages 51.47 when opening in T20Is and having seen openers top-score in all eight innings of the four play-off matches at the IPL, he appears at an immediate advantage to Bairstow.
I'm happy to take him for Man of the Match honours, thus ensuring I have both sides covered in that market, but up against a West Indies attack that looks very modest, I'm especially keen to back Buttler to make hay early and come up trumps in the top England batsman market at 11/4.
Published at 1245 BST on 21/10/21
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