“On the other hand,” says Krish on Twitter, picking up on my reasons why England should win (9:46), “Why will England lose? Because they are England.” It’s a fair cop. They haven’t had a decent World Cup since 1992.
Updated
Why England should win
1 They’re at home.
2 They’ve beaten West Indies in 11 of their last 13 meetings in this format.
3 They’ve got the world’s leading opening pair – Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow.
4 They’ve got the world’s fastest finisher – Jos Buttler.
5 They’ve got the world’s shrewdest, calmest, iciest captain – Eoin Morgan.
Updated
Preamble: this is big
Morning everyone and welcome to a rarity in contemporary sport: a contest that has been under-hyped. England v West Indies in Southampton is the most significant match of the World Cup so far.
Why? Because, on present form, England are lying fourth and West Indies fifth. They’re behind India, New Zealand and Australia, the first two of whom are unbeaten, the last beaten only by the first. So today is as close as we’ve come to a shoot-out for the semi-finals. It’s The Gunfight at the Hampshire Corral.
Of course, things can still change afterwards. If England lose today, they could dig themselves out of the hole by winning two of their last three matches, which happen to be against Australia, India and New Zealand. That’ll be like playing three quarter-finals in a row, which will leave them either whimpering in the corner or nicely sharpened for the semis. If West Indies lose today, on top of blowing a good chance to beat Australia, they’ll need to beat New Zealand and India as well as the smaller fry.
This match is a rarity for another reason too: it has every chance of not being washed out. According to the Met Office, there’s only a 10pc chance of rain in each hour till 3pm, when – at the risk of straying into the realms of fantasy – the sun is due to come out.
Updated
