England v West Indies Twenty20 Cricket Betting Odds

England face under strength Windies

Sports News

England v West Indies Twenty 20 cricket betting gets under way on Friday at the Oval, the first of two matches against the Windies. England of course are enjoying unprecedented success this year, whitewashing India in their Test Match Series and sweeping the board in their one day series as well (apart from the one match which rain spoiled). So England are definitely on top of the world at the moment, and now they need to look to their Twenty20 side to carry on the momentum. England’s last Twenty20 cricket outing was against India, which was successfully won by the English. Ten of the players who were involved in that match are back in the squad to take on the West Indies. Alastair Cook has been overlooked for the Twenty20 again, and the captaincy falls on Graeme Swann for the first time. The spin bowler is beaming and proud to be leading his country out, and his captaincy position has been handed to him as regular captain Stuart Broad sits on the sidelines with an injury. Eoin Morgan, who captained the side for the first time recently against Ireland is also out, and with Kevin Pietersen taking an extended rest period, the captaincy has fallen to Swann. The England Twenty20 squad includes Scott Borthwick, who made his debut against Ireland recently, Ben Stokes, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales and Jonathan Bairstow. England haven’t been particular strong at the Twenty20 format of the game, but not being afraid to blood young more players, there is a good strength in depth which has never really been there before and can only lead to positive things in the future.

As for the visitors, the West Indies, well they are bringing an under strength squad, which may limited the two matches against England as far as being a contest is concerned. Because of the Twenty20 Champions League cricket which starts on September 23rd, the same day as England v West Indies betting, the tourists have not selected a strong team. In fact seven of their most prominent players are missing from the squad including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons and Adrian Borath who are all on duty in the Champions League for their clubs. So Darren Sammy will lead his country out at the Oval, and the side will contain Dwayne Smith who has not played for the International side since last year’s meeting against Zimbabwe. So neither England, nor the West Indies are going to be at full strength, which is a bit of a disappointment, but in such a busy year of cricket, which is getting increasingly busier and busier, some things have to give way. England recently sent a massively under strength Twenty20 side out to face Ireland recently, which some say undervalued the contest. But the fixture came straight at the end of a packed summer against India, so what do the organisers expect? Still, we have to England v West Indies Twenty20 cricket betting matches to size up, and England are going to be strong favourites. The English have the advantage of home conditions, they are riding high in confidence at the moment and have proven class with the likes of Jimmy Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Craig Kieswetter, Swann and Ravi Bopara (who topped the batting runs against India in the One Day International series). With the West Indies under strength, it will be a surprise if England do not rattle off a 2-0 victory.

England v West Indies Twenty20 head to head
But the head to head between the two nations paints a different story. There have been five Twenty20 international matches between England and the West Indies, and it is the latter who holds a 4-1 lead. The only time that England have beaten the Windies was back at the Oval in 2007. The most recent meeting is one which many England fans will want to forget, as it was in the 2010 World Twenty20 last May, which the West Indies won by 8 wickets. So England have a poor Twenty20 record against the West Indies, but this is the perfect opportunity to close the gap a little bit.

England v West Indies Twenty20 Betting – Match One
England to win: 4/9 at Paddy Power
West Indies to win: 12/5 at William Hill

Top England Batsman: Kieswetter 7/2 at VC Bet, Alex Hales 4/11 at BetFred, Bopara 9/2 at BetFred

England Twenty20 Squad to face West Indies: Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernback, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Samit Patel, Ben Stokes, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler.

England v West Indies Twenty20 Series Betting
England 10/11 at Labdrokes
Draw: 11/8 at Boylesports
West Indies: 8/1 at William Hill

England to win 2-0: 5/6 at Bet365