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Key events
Teams:
USA: Steven Taylor, Andries Ghose (wk), Nitish Kumar, Aaron Jones (c), 5 Corey Anderson, Milind Kumar, Harmeet Singh, Nostush Kenjinge, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netrawalkar
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
England win the toss and elect to field first!
Jos Buttler calls the coin correctly and decides to ‘chase’ in modern parlance. Butler confirms Chris Jordan is coming in for Mark Wood.
Aaron Jones admits to Mike Atherton that he would bowl first, but he doesn’t look too worried, a big smile on his face and the Kensington Oval reflected in his wrap-around glasses. The USA captain went to school with Jofra Archer and they find themselves playing against each other today on the biggest stage. Nice little story and a bit of subtext to keep an eye on.
Jones confirms that the US is unchanged.
Chris Jordan was spotted marking our run. So he’s either doing some Mitch Marsh-esque shenanigans or he’s looking to get into the sidelines. I suspect Mark Wood could be the man to retire, throw the inbound, so watch this space…
It’s bright and sunny in Barbados currently with the bet prediction fair. That’s one less thing for England to worry about. They really do hold their destiny entirely in their own hands – win and win well and they will have no trouble securing a place in the semi-finals.
Another sigh of relief from Messrs Mott and Butler also came in the form of a shock victory in Afghanistan over the Australians. Suddenly Mitch Marsh’s side are the ones sweating it out for safe passage – now they will probably have to beat the mighty Indians to progress to the semi-finals.
Preamble
James Wallace
Brass keeps time. To Harry Brooke from England:
“We’ve played in Barbados quite a bit over the last six months. We also know the conditions, the wind and the terrain. Hopefully we can go out there and give them a good shot.”
them like the USA, co-hosts of the tournament and a surprise package that heats up the rooster. Once again, today’s match will be a case of keeping one eye on the sky and one on the net run rate column for England’s players in this T20 World Cup.
The Americans have already proven themselves a threat in this format (just ask Pakistan, just ask India’s much-vaunted top order or South Africa’s bowlers) and Jos Buttler’s men have hardly hit their straps so far.
This being the first meeting between the two nations in a full international format, Stuart Lowe’s side are all set when it comes to a semi-final place, barring some miracle that my little mind can’t even calculate. However, the US will be hoping to make a statement and give the Limeys a good push.
There is always a chance of an upset in the T20 format, time will tell if Ari’s stormy words will come back to bite like a Baltic breeze on a bare back.
Ours rum-soaked and sun-kissed the man on the ground – Ali Martin – has prepared the perfect preamble for today’s match:
The match starts at 15.30 BSTI’ll be back shortly before then with team news and the draw.
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