Table of Contents
England vs West Indies Highlights : Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran’s fifty-run partnership somewhat steadied the wobbling West Indian ship. They were in a spot of bother after losing Chris Gayle and Shai Hope in successive overs of Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood but young pair of Hetmyer and Pooran have done a good job since then. They have been a tad lucky yes, with a few edges going here and there but by and large it has been a good partnership. For England, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett have picked up a wicket each after captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and opted to field first.
Expensive over from Rashid
Pooran takes the attack to Rashid as he scores 12 runs off his over. He started the over by hitting a huge six over long-on and then took three doubles on the trot. Windies are starting to get a more on now.
Boundary from Pooran’s bat
A bit streaky but West Indies would take it. Short delivery aimed at rib cage by Ben Stokes, Pooran swivels and tries to play the pull shot and somehow gets it past the keeper to the boundary.
Turn from Rashid
Adil Rashid starts well. 4 runs came from his first over but more importantly he spun one past the bat, encouraging signs for the leggie.
Expensive over from Plunkett
Good over West Indies, 12 runs coming from it. Plunkett was guilty of pitching it too short twice. He was first dispatched by Pooran and then by Hetmyer. Two boundaries in the over.
Wood strikes
OUT! LBW, three reds, good review by England. How on earth did Kumar Dharmsena adjudged that no out? We will never know neither do wee need to cause DRS has saved England. Mark Wood gets Shai Hope. He was stuck in no man’s land and it hit him right in front of the stumps. West Indies in trouble.
Gayle falls
OUT! Chris Gayle departs. Huge wicket for England, no wonder Liam Plunkett is delighted. It was a back of a length delivery, Gayle clears his front leg, tries to pull it over mid-wicket for a maximum but the extra bounce brings his downfall. He only gets a top edge and Jonny Bairstow at deep square-leg makes no mistake. Gayle goes for 36.
Fifty partnership
Fifty partnership between Gayle and Hope. First 50+ stand for West Indies after 6 World Cup innings. Last 50+ stand was against Zimbabwe at Canberra in 2015.
Good start from Wood
Fast, aggressive and accurate – Mark Wood straight away leaves his mark on the match. It could well have been a maiden but for that little dab down past the point fielder for a single from Gayle.
Powerplay honours shared
Archer ends the Powerplay with a vicious delivery. West Indies 41/1 after 10 overs. Evin Lewis was the man dismissed by Woakes, things could have been a lot different had Wood held on to Gayle’s catch. As things stand, it’s even steven.
Gayle goes big
SIX! He was threatening and finally Gayle gets one right out of the middle and it sails straight over the back of Woakes’ head for a maximum – the first of the match. Gayle is looking to be positive and nothing wrong with that.
Injury scare for Jason Roy
Uh oh! Trouble here. England opener Jason Roy has apparently pulled a hamstring or so it seems like. He is walking off the field and looks to be in some sort of discomfort. This is not a good sight if you’re an England fan. Substitute fielder James Vince comes in.
DROPPED
It’s Chris Gayle! The anguish on Woakes’ face says it all. A fuller length delivery around off, Gayle goes for a mighty swing, gets a thickish outside edge and the ball flies to third-man, where Mark Wood was stationed. He makes good ground and even holds onto the ball till the last moment before it slips out of his hands as soon as it touches the ground. Big moment in the game!
Gayle 1 – Archer 0
Back-to-back boundaries from Chris Gayle’s bat and guess what it’s against Archer. First one was a copybook straight drive past the bowler and the second was a heave over mid-wicket. Gayle is both class and power. What will be Archer’s response?
Woakes cleans up Lewis
BOWLED! Full and straight, you miss, I hit! Chris Woakes is traditional and he makes sure, he implements it. What a good delivery to castle Lewis. It was full, came back ever so slightly to sneak through the gap between bat and pad. England draw first blood.
Gayle vs Archer round 1
Jofra Archer is in terrific form and Gayle knows that. He lets his first three deliveries go after Lewis gave him the strike. Only 2 runs coming from Archer’s first over.
Maiden to start
Brilliant from Chris Woakes, not too bad from Chirs Gayle either. A maiden to start the proceedings. Woakes pitched it up got the ball to swing and even beat the bat on three occasions but credit to Gayle for not flashing away from his body.
All set
West Indies openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis have made their way out into the centre. It will be Chris Woakes with the new ball for England. Here we go.
Captains speak
Eoin Morgan, England captain: The wicket has been under covers for last 24 hours. There has been a lot of rain around and we feel there would be some moisture on it. Completely different challenge that we had against Bangladesh. The World Cup is about adapting to conditions. Tough challenge for us.
Jason Holder, West Indies captain: Oppurtunity for our guys to get some runs first. Probably would wanted to bowl first on a fresh wicket. There is a lot at stake. We guys have planned well for this game and we are up for it. It is a matter of adapting to particular individuals on that day.
Playing XIs
England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Jos Buttler(w), Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
West Indies (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder(c), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Oshane Thomas
Team News
Mark Wood is fit and England are fielding the same Playing XI. West Indies meanwhile, have made three changes. Evin Lewis comes in, Russell comes back and Shannon Gabriel is making his first appearance.
Toss update
England win the toss and opt to field first against West Indies
Pitch report
Ian Bishop with the pitch report: It has been under the covers all day yesterday. But the hooded covers have helped and no amount of water has seeped in. The grass has been cut below than other tracks. The hardness will help someone like Archer. Even Windies won’t mind it as their plan has been to get it up at the heads of the batsman and bounce them out.
Points table
If Windies win today, they will go above England on the table while if the hosts manage to get the better of Holder and Co, they will leapfrog India and take the third spot.
Holder fires back at Bayliss
West Indies captain Jason Holder was asked on Thursday whether Cottrell had “a nice, special salute” lined up for Bayliss, and he smiled. “I don’t think it will change, that’s just Sheldon. I guess Trevor will just have learn to accept it,” he replied.
Weather clearing up
The ICC have put up a picture of the sky on their Twitter handle and it seems the weather is finally clearing up. We still don’t know if the match will be getting off to a scheduled start but everyone is keeping their fingers crossed.
Player battles
Jofra Archer vs Chris Gayle
Oshane Thomas vs Jason Roy
Mark Wood vs Nicholas Pooran
Sheldon Cottrell vs Joe Root
England sweat over Mark Wood’s fitness
Wood suffered discomfort in his left ankle after England’s win over Bangladesh in Cardiff on Saturday, when the Durham quick recorded the fastest delivery of the tournament so far at 95.6 mph. (Here’s the full story)
Likely XIs
West Indies Predicted XI: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
England Predicted XI: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood
Good news
Live pictures from Rose Bowl, Southampton show a great deal of improvement. It does not look that gloomy and the ground staff are working overtime for the game to start on time. The wet outfield will definitely be a concern though.
What the captains said
Eoin Morgan, England captain: They are a strong outfit, we expect the same tomorrow. They are explosive with the bat and a different challenge with the ball. The seamers are tall and they hit the wicket hard, for most of the time they play with one spinner
Jason Holder, West Indies captain: I think the brand of cricket we have been playing so far in this World Cup, you know what to expect of West Indies now. For us, we are not going to back down from the challenge. Most of our guys are always up for the challenge and it is just a matter for us to be smart.
Sourav Ganguly has a solution
Former India captain has come up with a solution to rain washing out World Cup matches problem.
This is not good news for all the cricket fans. As per latest weather updates from Southampton, it is still cloudy and conditions are set to remain the same, meaning the wet outfield will not have any sunlight or breeze to dry out. Another India vs New Zealand on the cards? Let’s hope not.
Rain again?
As much as we hate to inform you but it rained at Southampton on Friday morning and it has been raining for the last few days. So don’t be surprised if the toss is delayed. Thankfully, chances of another washout are slim as weather is expected to clear out as the day progresses.
England up against West Indies
England vs West Indies, Jofra Archer vs Chris Gayle, call it whatever you want to but either way, it promises to be a great contest. Hello and welcome to the live coverage of England vs West Indies World Cup match at Rose Bowl Southampton.