ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 19: ENG vs WI – Windies Predicted Playing XI

The loss against Australia would have hurt the mighty Windies. What would have been more disappointing is the washout in the game against South Africa. The team will be back in action on Thursday as they gear up to face the hosts England. The short-ball ploy has worked wonders for West Indies so far in the tournament.

England could be targetted the same way but it shouldn’t be overdone. Windies should look to maintain the same kind of intensity and shouldn’t look to let things drift away as they did in the match against the Aussies. With a few players unable to deliver the goods, the Caribbean team could look to make small amends to the playing eleven.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Windies:

Openers (Chris Gayle, Shai Hope (wk))

It is tough to keep Chris Gayle quiet for a long time. In the first match, he did get to a 50 but got out soon after that. The ‘Universe Boss‘ only managed to get 21 runs in the match against Australia. Thus, he is due to a big, aggressive knock as he takes the field for the game against England. If his team is to fancy a chance of winning this match, Gayle’s contribution will be critical.

Shai Hope will be his opening partner at the other end. The Windies management might not go back to Evin Lewis and will instead continue with their tried and tested method. Hope is really good at finding the gaps and is highly effective during the powerplay. The wicketkeeper-batsman should look to play his natural game instead of taking a lot of pressure.

Middle Order (Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer)

Nicholas Pooran is likely to get a promotion up the batting order. In whatever opportunities that he’s got thus far, Pooran has been quite impressive. While he scored an unbeaten 34 against Pakistan, the left-hander piled up another 40 runs when he faced Australia. It is important for him to carry on for longer and make his opportunity count.

Since Windies are yet to find a reliable batsman at this important position, Pooran has got the opportunity to make it his own. This means that Shimron Hetmyer will get a chance to bat at number four. He has also been in good form and was unfortunate to have got run-out in the last match. Hetmyer should look to spend as much time as possible in the middle and attack the poor balls instead of taking too many risks.

All Rounders (Jason Holder (c), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite)

Jason Holder has been an excellent addition to this Windies team. He has fulfilled his responsibilities really well both with the bat and the ball as well as the skipper of the team. He scored a half-century in the last match and picked up one wicket. However, his efforts weren’t sufficient to take his team through. The Windies skipper will not want his efforts to go in vain this time around and will hope to put up an improved performance.

Andre Russell missed the last match due to an injury, but he is expected to be roped back into the playing eleven for the upcoming match. In case he is not fit to play the next match, then Windies might have to continue playing Darren Bravo at number three. Carlos Brathwaite is doing a good job with the ball picking up regular wickets. However, he is slightly expensive. Brathwaite also needs to perform better with the bat.

Bowlers (Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas)

Ashley Nurse will be the spinner in this team. He is expected to bowl economical spells and keep things tight in the middle overs. Kemar Roach will get another opportunity in the playing eleven to prove his potential. He bowls quick and is likely to extract some good amount of bounce off the pitch. Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas will be the other two pacers in the team.

Thomas has been regularly amongst the wickets and is doing a decent job for the team. With Cottrell also performing quite well, Windies will hope that they subject England to great pressure early on. Both these bowlers have picked up two wickets each in the last game against Australia.