World
England v West Indies: T20 Cricket World Cup – live
Key events
An inky black night as the anthems ring out. A strong wind ripples the England shirts for God Save the Queen before a rousing version of Rally Round the West Indies.
Our man on the ground
Ali Martin
“Greetings from St Lucia where it’s a soupy night and a wonderful atmosphere is already building in the ground. There’s a terrific steel band panning out hits from David Rudder and Nadia Batson outside the stadium, and then pulsing party soca – Shazam fodder territory for the names – being blared out inside. Windies happily stuck a big one on the board against Afghanistan here on Monday, so slightly surprised by Jos Buttler’s call. England are tinkering have a long tail tonight, Windies revert to their strongest side from the first round. The crowd is building and everything feels ripe for a belter and who knows, maybe the first centurion of the tournament.”
A very moving email from old friend of the OBO and the county blog James Walsh.
“The worst night here – big up as always to our incredible NHS – but I suspect my dad might not make the dawn after a sudden and very cruel illness. And so we make vigil.
“He’s never been much of a cricket watcher, though he’s happy coming to The Oval with his pal Chris to drink beer and take the piss out of the John Major bust.
No need to publish if a bit much for a cricket blog, but just wanted to thank you for being out there providing solace and distraction at the most difficult of times.”
James, sending all the love in the world to you and your dad. May England see you both safely through the night.”
Ian Bishop towers over everyone at the Daren Sammy stadium, where the wind is whistling in and Mark Wood powers in over his shoulder. . “They’ve rolled it well, very hard, not too much long grass. You get some extra bounce compared to other Caribbean pitches around the place. But it is true bounce, batters can pull cut or drive.”
West Indies XI
West Indies: Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell (capt), Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie
A couple of changes for West Indies, as Roston Chase and Romario Shepherd return.
England XI
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley.
Liam Livingstone has recovered from his stomach upset. One change with Mark Wood replacing Chris Jordan.
England win the toss and will bowl!
Buttler calls correctly on what looks like a steamy St Lucia night
“This is the part of the tournament you want to be at,” says Buttler, “it is going to be a great atmosphere, a game to be enjoyed.” Rovman Powell says he’d have bowled too but “it looks a very good pitch.”
“Looking forward to this tonight,” taps a buoyant Stephen Holiday. “I’m in Toronto so the timing is great. Kids will be in bed. Got a few beers in the fridge and I feel fairly calm about things. Kind of expect New England to turn up rather than Morgan England so anything positive will be a lovely bonus. I think that as long as the weather doesn’t get involved, it’ll all be ok.
“As an aside, I reserve the right to be absolutely livid when a great England start is undone within two overs.
Ah, cricket…”
We’re with you Stephen! Good morning everyone. Here’s Nasser Hussain and the toss.
Preamble
Hello night owl fumbling around in BST, hello St Lucian sun worshipper, hello everyone in between. Welcome to the second game of the Super Eights – still not a knockout – between the reigning champions, Butler’s Boys, and the hosts, and fellow two-time winners, West Indies.
A quick reminder of what’s what in the Super Eights – India, Australia, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh (Group One) and West Indies, South Africa, England, and the USA (Group Two ) are the qualifiers.
Teams play the other three teams in their group once, with the top two sides in each group qualifying for the semi-finals. South Africa pipped the USA in the first match in Antigua on Wednesday, and here we are now at the second.
England’s journey to St Lucia has been angst-riven, threatened by rain, Australia and then rain again. West Indies on the other hand are rocking – four wins from four, against PNG, New Zealand, Uganda, and Afghanistan and the feeling that this campaign might be relighting a fire in the resident population. Ali Martin wrote a great piece on this, and Akeal Hosein, here:
Play starts at 1.30am BST, the toss at 1am. See you then!
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