Cricket World Cup Preview – England vs West Indies, Friday 14th June 2019

Weather permitting England will be looking to solidify their spot in the top 4 when they take on the West Indies in Southampton this Friday, at 10.30am on Sky Sports Cricket.

Heading into the competition as favourites – a position they still hold, at an Outright Index spread of 49.5-53.5, with fixed odds of 15/8 – the hosts have had a typically English tournament. Things started confidently enough, Eoin Morgan’s men breezing past South Africa in the captain’s 200th ODI, beating the Proteas by 104 runs.

They looked set to continue that run in an easy 2nd fixture against Pakistan, a side they beat 4 consecutive times in an ODI series in May. Yet in the biggest shock of the World Cup so far, the Shaheens left England chasing 348, a tally they were unable to match, finishing the fixture 14 runs short.

They did, however, bounce back in style against Bangladesh on Saturday, their 386 in Cardiff the highest team total a third of the way through the group stages. The Tigers couldn’t get close, eventually losing by 106 runs.

As for the West Indies – who sit at a dark horse Outright Index spread of 16.5-20.5 – their competition has had a bit of everything. They comfortably bypassed Pakistan in their first match, winning by 7 whole wickets. Eyeing an upset in their 2nd fixture, they very nearly surprised Australia, only to fail by 15 runs at Trent Bridge. Frustratingly their tie against South Africa was rained off – a repeated issue this year, though that’s what you get for hosting it in England and Wales – leaving them on 3 points from 3 games.

Jason Roy, who picked up the single highest score against Bangladesh with 153 runs, heads into the Rose Bowl at a Player Performance spread of 55-60 – where it’s 1 point per run, 10 points per catch, 20 points per wicket and 25 points per stumping. That price is behind only Jonny Bairstow, at 57-62 and Joe Root at 59-64.

Though they’ve already been shown up in this tournament, the hosts should triumph on Friday, with Spreadex offering an England/West Indies Supremacy spread of 29-39, alongside a Launch! spread of 2050-2200.