England bid for another victory when taking on West Indies in the fourth T20I at Gros Islet on Saturday night – check out Richard Mann's preview here.
I wouldn’t quite give up on the possibility of big runs at Gros Islet, despite Thursday’s third T20I between West Indies and England proving to be a low-scoring affair.
The fourth match of the series will be played at the same venue on Saturday, 8pm UK time, with England now holding an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series with two games remaining.
The problem for the hosts has been the heavy casualties they have consistently suffered in the powerplay. Some of that has been down to excellent new-ball bowling from Saqib Mahmood and Jofra Archer, but in truth, the home batting has been very poor.
If England can get that new ball talking again, some of West Indies’ big hitters could be vulnerable once more, but there is no doubting the power is there if they can just set a decent platform.
Both teams to score 180+ runs is once again available at around the 7/4 mark, but I’ve had my fingers burnt once with that, for all I can’t deny the temptation to reload.
The total match sixes is another market of interest. Even with under 300 runs scored across the whole match on Thursday, 11 maximums were registered, and you’d have to think that a number closer to 20 is more than attainable if both sides can fire with the bat.
In fact, in the series opener in Bridgetown, 23 sixes were scored, though the inconsistency of the home batting line-up in particular does temper enthusiasm for getting involved, with the line for Saturday generally around 19.5.
One thing that I do expect to play out is that SHAI HOPE, who returned to the starting XI on Thursday, will be asked to control the West Indies batting innings while his more attacking teammates play around him.
Hope is far more established in the 50-over format, and he was again exceptional in the preceding ODI series against the same opposition.
However, his T20 game has really developed over the last 18 months. He was picked up at last year’s IPL auction and featured regularly for Delhi Capitals, and he was outstanding throughout the recent CPL.
I didn’t see too much wrong with conditions for batting on Thursday so if Hope, expected to open the innings again, can get himself in, the man with a penchant for making big runs could be in the business.
I’ll back Hope to make a fifty at 7/2.
Posted at 1555 GMT on 15/11/24
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