England vs West Indies Prediction: Back Buttler to score plenty in 3rd T20I

It's England v West Indies in the 3rd and final T20I on Tuesday, played at Southampton with live coverage on Sky Sports Cricket from 18:30 onwards.   

Jamie Pacheco thinks the Buttler can go again and is trusting him with double stakes, while Shai Hope might do his best to steer a sinking ship and is a good 10/3 for Windies top bat honours. Let's take a look at his England vs West Indies Predictions for this match tonight...   

*You can check out the Cricket Odds from all of our Cricket Betting markets over on betfred.com

England 

Good news. England are learning to win T20I games from different positions, with different players taking turns to assume responsibility and put in match-winning contributions.  

After Liam Dawson last time out, this time it was Luke Wood (2-25 including a wicket from the first ball of the match) and Tom Banton who were the star men. Given that both of them even featuring in the XI was a bit of a surprise and you can say England are starting to have some strength in depth rather than always relying on the same eleven or twelve to deliver.  

As it happens, this time it was Adil Rashid's turn to have a shocker (1-59) but that probably had more to do with the fact the Windies were going for broke and middled a few in the death overs than any poor bowling from the Yorkshire man.  

There was another important knock from the liberated Jos Buttler while Jacob Bethell continues to be a vital player with both bat and ball.  

With the Series won, Ahmed Rehman could get a game in place of Rashid while they may find a place for Jamie Overton somewhere.  

Oh, the bad news? England won't be playing a side as inconsistent and flaky as the Windies all the time so there' still plenty of room for improvement.   

Possible XI:  Duckett, Salt, Buttler, Brook, Banton, Bethell, Jacks/Overton, Dawson, Rashid/Rehman, Potts, Mahmood.   

West Indies 

The best thing we can say about the Windies' performance on Sunday was that they got close to a par score batting first and late big-hitting cameos from Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder were a throwback to that double World Cup winning side when the dismissal of one six-hitter was promptly followed by the arrival of another. And between them, they could set or chase anything.  

But that's probably as good as it got. That England chased almost 200 with an over and a half to spare was down to some explosive batting of their own but also some pretty erratic and indisciplined bowling.  

Roston Chase went for 15 off just one over while our man Romario Shepherd grabbed a wicket all right but at a serious cost: 42 runs came from his three overs.  

But perhaps what summed it all up best was Alzarri Joseph bowling a horrible full toss so wide down the legside that it went for four byes and was high enough to be called a no-ball as well. Rather than apologise to skipper and teammates at an important time of the game, Joseph instead had a go at the Umpire.  

If the Windies are to progress, some changes in attitude, fitness and discipline will be needed with Alzarri Joseph and Shimron Hetmyer two of the guiltiest culprits. Andre Russell could return after carrying a niggle ahead of the last match.  

Possible XI:  Charles, Lewis, Hope, Rutherford, Powell, Russell, Hosein/Chase, Holder,  Shepherd, Motie, Joseph. 

Pitch and conditions  

We're at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton for this one and the weather is good again so that's a positive.  

Since 2021, England have played here four times and lost three of those, to India, Australia and South Africa, and beating Sri Lanka back in 2021.  

The last first innings scores were 179 (Australia), 191 (South Africa) and 198 (India), all of whom went on to win. So the plan is simple: get close to 190-195 batting first and you should win the game.  

England vs West Indies 3rd T20I Odds

In what has been a very challenging Series so far from a betting perspective, at least last time out I avoided the temptation of backing the Windies.  For the record, Shepherd was pipped to top bowler honours by Joseph, Motie didn't get a bat at all and we at least got our small stake back on Russell, who didn't play.  

Is it worth hoping that with all the pressure off, England possibly making a couple of changes and the hosts having a poor recent record here at the Rose Bowl, that this is the match the Windies finally get a 'W' (as the Americans say), on the board?  

Maybe and 15/8 (implied probability of 34.8%) looks a big price but we've certainly been here before and there's too much hoping for my liking. Like last time out, if they win then good on them, but I'm not risking hard-earned stakes on such an unpredictable and potentially undisciplined side.  

Like last time, the suggestion would be to try to get 2.0 on England in live betting at any stage.  

Jos Buttler Total Runs  

It's tempting to go for a hail-Mary bet at big odds on the last match of the Series in an attempt to claw back some losses. But that' s not to say that's the right way to go about it.  

Buttler has now top-scored in both matches so far with 96 and 47 on the back of two decent knocks in the ODI Series where he may have scored far more if he'd batted a bit higher up the order.  

A third win on the spin at 14/5 is by no means out of the question but this could be the game Ben Duckett or Jamie Smith kick on from good starts. If they're on say 100 between them before Buttler even gets to the crease, it will be bear-on impossible for Buttler to overtake their score. I suppose you could say that about any batsman who doesn't open, but I just have a feeling one of those openers is going to go big here.  

So instead, I'll double stakes while taking the considerably shorter price that Buttler gets to 25 runs, at 5/6, rather than him top-scoring. Batting at three, he'll have enough balls to easily get to that if he plays well, and that looks the more sensible option.  

West Indies Top Batsman  

We will however take a different approach with Shai Hope, a 10/3 chance for Windies Top Batsman.  

Twice we tried the strategy of going for big-priced Windies players down the order but they either came in too late, didn't face enough deliveries or quickly got out forcing the issue.  

So instead, we'll go with the consistent skipper Hope. He was a bit unlucky to get out in the first two games after showing good form in the ODIs but played well to just about top-score with 49 last time out, stumped after a beauty from Rashid.   

We know he'll bat at three, we know he's a class act and may be more inclined to play a longer, hard-working innings than others here. So that's probably as solid a 3/1 shot as you'll find in this match.  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2025: 

• Points Staked: 47.5 
• Points Returned: 39.13 
• Current P/L: -8.37