If West Indies believed they had posted a defendable total at Bridgetown in the first T20I, they were utterly mistaken. And so they were proved when English batters came out all guns blazing, to make easy work of their 183-run target, which looked a little more than a warm-up exercise for them. But long before the English batters, especially Phil Salt, put their brilliance on the show, their spinners had laid the groundwork for the dominance. Sharing nine wickets between them, they kept on stopping the Windies batter from setting their feet. Try as they might, none of the host batters could breach even the 40-run mark. And so, as they watched the visiting batters thrash everything into the stands, they would have rued the missed chances and shaky shot selections that smothered their chances to go big with the bat at a venue famous for its batting-friendly wicket.
Team Overview:
Phil Salt loves to bat against the West Indies. Among all the teams he has batted against in the T20Is, he averages the highest amongst them, a whopping 83. His red-inked 103-run knock showed the West Indians how it’s done. The returning captain, Jos Buttler, who got himself in the ground at No. 3, could not get off the mark and had to depart for zero but the rookie batter Jacob Bethell compensated for Buttler and Will Jacks’ failure, by scoring 58 runs striking at 160. However, the brightest thing of the day for England was the way their bowlers bowled in the game. Saqib Mahmood took four wickets on a surface that was not exactly a spinner’s heaven. The pacers had a toiling day in the field, with only Jamie Overton getting a scalp.
Not only did the hosts fail to capitalize on the batting-friendly conditions, they were equally, if not more, underwhelming with the ball. This has become a recurring theme for the West Indies batting lineup of late, the team tends to rely on one or two batters who score big and rescue the side. But the moment those batters falter, the team crumbles like a house of cards. Gudakesh Motie was head and shoulders above the rest even on the day when a lot was against West Indies. With the bat, he struck a late-innings cameo and took one of the only two English wickets that fell during the otherwise forgettable day for the Windies.
Head-to-Head Matches:
West Indies have been the better side in the 31 T20I games both teams have played so far, with seventeen wins against the English next to their name. England resisted their dominance and won the remaining fourteen matches
Weather and Pitch Report:
There is a high chance of rain, which could affect the game. Bridgetown has a batting-friendly surface but spinners were seen to do a decent job despite a flat-wicket. Rain might help the pacers do a better job than they did in the opening game. Expect another high-scoring affair.
Prediction:
It will be two in two wins for England if the West Indies enter the ground without having addressed their batting woes.
Where to Watch:
Caribbean: Rush Sports, Flow Sports App, Sports Max
UK: TNT sports
Pakistan: Tapmad
India: FanCode App
