England vs West Indies Match Prediction: October 23, T20 World Cup

It’s been a long, long wait for fans of the shortest cricket format, with the 2020 World Cup being pushed back to the tail end of 2021 by COVID-19. However, it is finally upon us, and with the preliminary qualification stage over, things are about to get heated in the Super 12s. In Match 14 of the tournament, we will have a bona fide grudge match.

West Indies shocked the world when they became the first team to win two T20 World Cups, courtesy of a brilliant knock from Marlon Samuels and that quartet of sixes from a certain Carlos Brathwaite. However, a lot has changed since then, and any England vs West Indies prediction article must tout England as heavy favourites.

Over the last 5 years, England have become the de facto leaders of limited overs cricket – at least in terms of ICC rankings when it comes to T20s. They currently lead the rankings for both white-ball formats, and with their slew of potent new talent, many T20 world cup predictions have declared them as hot contenders to lift the trophy.

With no Joe Root, it will be up to Dawid Malan, Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, and newcomer Liam Livingstone to divide up scoring responsibilities – especially considering Eoin Morgan’s dreadful form. England’s bowling lineup doesn’t look too convincing either, with Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid as their only two spin options on some heavily turn-friendly UAE pitches.

West Indies have only recently climbed back up to 9th after a shocking fall in form that saw them become the first team in cricketing history to reach the 10th rank while being reigning world champions. Combined with their awful performances in the warmup matches, it’s safe to say that they need to up their game to stand a chance.

The primary problem with the Windies’ batting lineup is consistency. For a team that has belligerent hitters like Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, etc. (just about every other batsman they have), it’s sad to think that Kieron Pollard is arguably their most reliable batter right now. However, if any of their batsmen have a good day, game on. As far as bowling goes, there’s really no standout talent to speak of – unless Sunil Narine makes a late entry. Perhaps Dwayne Bravo can work his magic, or Akeal Hosein can step up.

Match Prediction and Betting Odds

For our ENG vs WI prediction odds, we have to go with England. Just about every metric indicates that, unless multiple batters come online for the Caribbean side, the Britons should be able to take the win.

Last 5 matches between England and West Indies (Source)