England captain Eoin Morgan said his team is full of confidence heading into its opening World Twenty20 match against West Indies on Wednesday. “Every team has match winners”. Per ESPN Cricinfo, the men from the Caribbean have won eight of those meetings.
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Both West Indies and Sri Lanka are in a state of flux with many of their best players either missing, retired or injured, while Afghanistan are the lowest ranked side left of the 10. Temperatures are expected to be around 23 degrees Celsius during the evening.
England has failed to make it past the second round since winning the title in 2010 but Morgan said his players had a positive mindset after winning warm-up matches against New Zealand and a Mumbai Cricket Association XI.
It was contrasting batting approaches by the two teams.
Eoin Morgan’s England are a bit of an unknown package. But they do have a chance in Mumbai and Delhi.
The 31-year-old scored 50 not out off 28 balls with six fours and a tremendous straight six.
England defeated Pakistan in the Twenty20 series on slow wickets in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year but arrived in India after losing both T20s against South Africa last month.
West Indies batting will be led by the explosive Gayle but they will certainly miss the services of all-rounder Kieron Pollard, opener Lendl and Darren Bravo.
Their preparations have included warm-up fixtures against India and Australia.
If they were not, the West Indies skipper Darren Sammy reminded them a few hours after Morgan had delivered his verdict with his thrust being we have plenty more where that came from.
They will all be mindful of the damage Chris Gayle can inflict on their figures on a pitch at the Wankhede Stadium where Morgan expects spin will not play too significant a role. Uncapped batsman Evin Lewis was called up in his place, as confirmed by ESPN Cricinfo.
Still, those who have made the trip have enough talent to repeat their success at the 2012 event, when Sammy lifted the trophy on Sri Lankan soil.
The Yorkshireman showed his value on Indian wickets with three for 15 in the friendly fixture against the Black Caps.
West Indies go into this clash as the underdogs.
Rashid has only taken nine wickets in T20 cricket for his country, while his economy rate is a leaky 7.72 runs per over.
“But Chris is just gearing up to do what Chris has done throughout his T20 career”.
“Bravo is one of the most experienced as he has been playing in these conditions”.
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What followed for Australia though was carnage as Brathwaite hit 33 off 14 deliveries, taking a particular liking to Andrew Tye, who went for 35 runs in only 2.5 overs.
