Cricket World Cup 2019: England vs West Indies: England Probable Playing XI, West Indies Probable Playing XI

England will take on the West Indies at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Friday. While England are fresh off a convincing 106-run win over Bangladesh at Cardiff, the Windies did not get a chance to compete against a struggling South African due to rain. Apart from the slip-up against Pakistan, hosts England have so far lived up to the title of being favourites to win the coveted trophy. The Eoin Morgan-led side has registered two wins out of their three games so far in the tournament. However, all eyes will be on the sky, as rain has already caused four washouts so far in the marquee tournament. The bad weather over the last couple of days has affected the preparations of both the sides.

An injured Mark Wood is expected to be left out of the playing XI and England might include Moeen Ali in the side. Also, wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler sustained a hip injury during England's last game. However, team head coach Trevor Bayliss believes that Buttler will be fully fit for the game.

On the eve of their clash against the West Indies, Bayliss was asked whether he would play Buttler as a specialist batsman to reduce the workload on the 28-year-old. The England coach elucidated "I haven't really thought about it. We'll make that decision in the next day or so. We'll see how he pulls up and how he performs at practice. I'm expecting him to play a full part."

On the other hand, the West Indies' last match against the Proteas was a washout, so they will be looking to field the best players against a strong England side. Notably, if Andre Russell recovers in time, he might get the nod in place of Kemar Roach who replaced him in the last game.

Probable XI:
 
England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer.
 
West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran(wk), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.
 
Squads:

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Tom Curran, James Vince, Liam Dawson.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (capt), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel.

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team West Indies Cricket Team Andre Russell Moeen Ali World Cup 2019 England vs West Indies, Match 19 Cricket