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Defending champions England head over to the Caribbean with a strong, deep and extremely impressive team all round with both the ball and the bat as they face a Scotland time looking to cause a major upset in Barbados.
DATE & TIME: DATE & TIME: Tuesday 4th June, 2024 – USA – 10:30 / West Indies – 09:30 / UK – 15:30 / South Africa – 16:30 / Pakistan – 19:30 / India – 20:00 / Bangladesh – 20:30 & Wednesday 5th June, 2024 – Australia – 00:30
VENUE: Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
WEATHER: Thunder and lightning is, frustratingly, forecasted throughout the day on Tuesday. With temperatures of 30 degrees from early on, the chances of any play at all seem slim if the forecast is to be believed and is correct.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: USA – Willow TV / West Indies – ESPN Caribbean / UK – Sky Sports / South Africa – SuperSport / Pakistan – PTV Sports & TEN Sports / India – Star Sports / Bangladesh – Disney Star / Australia – N/A
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: USA – Willow TV website / West Indies – ESPN Play Caribbean app / UK – Sky Go / South Africa – SuperSport app / Pakistan – Myco & Tamasha / India – Disney+Hotstar / Bangladesh – Disney+Hotstar / Australia – Amazon Prime Video
ENGLAND FORM: THE DANGEROUS THREE LIONS
England appear to be coming into this tournament, unlike the 50-over World Cup last year, with a lot of clarity and generally good role definition. They managed to play just two of their scheduled four warm-up games against Pakistan in Britain last week and the games in which they did play they were simply far, far too good for the opposition.
LAST FIVE: WAWAL
SCOTLAND FORM: CONTINUING TO GROW
Scotland have some excellent players in their squad and can surprise anyone, as they did England when they defeated the English in an ODI just before the 2019 Cricket World Cup, which England won. Their inconsistency was shown in a recent tri-series against the Netherlands and Ireland, winning one but lost two with another game washed out.
LAST FIVE: ALWAL
ENGLAND BETTING ANALYSIS
That aforementioned role definition of England has produced a powerful top five that does, at the very least, have a couple of concerns about the ball turning away because all of Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook are powerful right-handers that could be undone in that regard. That is unlikely to be a major issue here, though, and Buttler, in excellent nick, to set the tone at the start of the tournament is a good bet so even backing a Buttler hundred to kick things off may be the way to go.
As for the bowling, a common theme with associate nations is a struggle against left-arm pace bowling because that sort of threat is never genuinely consistent below the elite level. Given that, as well as his own excellent form, backing Reece Topley to take at least two or three of the Scottish wickets would seem good value.
SCOTLAND BETTING ANALYSIS
Scotland’s primary spinner and genuinely very excellent spinner is Mark Watt. The former Lancashire man has been improving throughout his career and should have a good tournament but, if selected, perhaps the man to back to be Scotland’s best bowler in the match is Chris Sole with the 30-year-old capable of touching 90mph speeds and someone who may confident of racing through England’s middle order.
As for the batting, the likes of Matt Cross and George Munsey remain the main threats for Scotland but neither are in outrageously good form so the best bet in this regard may well be to go unders for the Scottish total with less than 135 scored possible if England do, as expected, start well.
ENGLAND VS SCOTLAND EXPERT PREDICTION
England underperformed significantly in the defence of their 50-over crown last year and Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler will know the pressure is on to ensure they don’t allow the 20-over title to be handed over so easily. The strength in England’s batting is matched by the excellent variations and options with the ball and, of course, the return of Jofra Archer. Scotland are capable and can give anyone a good game but, if they get on the park, England should win comfortably.
ENGLAND VS SCOTLAND TIP: ENGLAND TO WIN