West Indies vs England Prediction: Skippers to the fore in 1st ODI

It's the First ODI at North Sound starting at 18:00 on Thursday with live broadcast on TNT Sports. 

Jamie Pacheco is just focusing on the two top batsmen markets for this one and has selections at 6/1 and 7/2 with the two players he's backing having plenty in common as he previews the action and gives us his England vs West Indies Predictions...

West Indies  

The Windies are fresh from losing an ODI Series 2-1 out in Sri Lanka. No disgrace there and it's worth remembering that the Windies are down in 10th on the ICC ODI rankings, with both Bangladesh and Afghanistan ahead of them. So that Series defeat probably shouldn't have come as a surprise.  

Still, it's not a bad-looking side on paper and they welcome back the explosive Shimron Hetmyer, who missed that tour for personal reasons. For what it's worth, he's looking trimmer to me in comparison to a year or so ago, which is significant as fitness levels have always been an issue for him. His ability, less so.    

He replaces the equally talented Alick Athanaze in the squad, who had a quiet CPL and got scores of just 10 and 1 in the first two ODIs (which they lost) last week before being dropped for the third (which they won).  

17-year-old batting prodigy Jewel Andrew did play in that final match but didn't get to bat as he wasn't needed. He's already managed a century from just four List A matches but may have to wait for his turn.  

Shai Hope captains the side. There's no Nicholas Pooran or Akeal Hossein again. The absence of Andre Russell is to be expected but maybe they could have at least had the extremely experienced Jason Holder in the squad.   

Possible XI: King, Lewis, Hope, Rutherford, Carty, Hetmyer, Chase, Motie, A Joseph, Forde, Seales.    

England 

It's the nature of modern-day cricket that none of their Test stars who would normally be in the team such as Joe Root, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse or Ben Duckett are involved here, as they're focusing on their upcoming tour of New Zealand in the longest format.  

So, Liam Livingstone leads the side, which is some turnaround because at the start of the summer he may have felt his ODI days were numbered, or even over. He takes over from the injured Jos Buttler.  

Youngsters Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley are two to keep an eye on in the middle order while older heads Will Jacks and Sam Curran will bring good all-round skills to the table.  

Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid add experience to the bowling attack while the impressive Jordan Cox should finally, finally get a go somewhere in the Top 4.  

We may have to wait for the chance to see keeper-batsman Michael Pepper at the crease with Phil Salt, one of the most eagerly-awaited potential partnerships in sport since Fleetwood Mac (Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood) finally played at the Ryder Cup together a few years ago.  

Possible XI: Salt, Jacks, Cox, Livingstone, Bethell, Mousley, Curran, Ahmed, Archer, Rashid, Topley/Mahmood.  

Pitch and conditions  

North Sound has been a good hunting ground for the West Indies of late with five wins here from their last six, not a bad record at for team who has struggled in this format.  

Three of those wins were against Sri Lanka in 2021, one was against India in 2017 and the other against England late last year. Three days later England beat them, their one blemish of the last six ODIs there.  

In the first of those two ODIs last year the Windies chased a big 325 with an over to spare as Hope hit a century and Romario Shepherd a priceless 48 off 28.  

In the second the Windies managed just 202 which was easily chased. So not the easiest wicket to predict.  

England vs West Indies 1st ODI Odds

England are unsurprisingly the favourites at 8/13, which is implied probability of 66%; the Windies are 5/4, which translates as 44.4%.  

Unsurprising because despite this being far from a vintage ODI side for them and missing four or five regulars, they're still sixth in the ODI rankings, to the hosts' 10th. Prior to that win in the dead rubber last week, the Windies had lost all five of their ODIs this calendar year.   

So, with the prices looking about right, we'll skip the main market and focus on others.  

England Top Batsman 

It didn't take me long to spot the wrong price on this market; it stuck out like a sore thumb. Whether he goes on to win or not remains to be seen but boy, does skipper Livingstone look overpriced at 6/1. 

Gone are the days where he was played very much as an all-rounder batting at seven. Against Australia in the summer he came in at six most of the time, which included a whirlwind 33 not out off 20 and a brilliant 62 off 27 in the fourth ODI, where his backers can feel hard done by thar he didn't quite have enough deliveries left to overtake Brook's 87.  

Worst case scenario, he'll pull rank given he's skipper/shield the inexperienced middle-order and bat at five here; but I really wouldn't be surprised if he came in at four.  

Jacks (11/4 favourite) did admittedly play a couple of good knocks of 62 and 84 in that series against Australia (without top-scoring in either, by the way) but they were an exception to the rule because he's struggled in international cricket of late. Salt (16/5) can consider himself incredibly lucky to be in the side after a horror run in that Australia series where he failed to get to 50 in five attempts.  

So, with the two favourites somewhat out of nick and plenty of inexperience around him, Livingstone looks a really good bet at the price.