Cricket doesn’t get any better than it has been in the Caribbean in the last few weeks. West Indies won the Test series 2-1 and they have displayed some totally fearless cricket in the ODI series so far, even though they are currently trailing 1-2 in the 5-match series. Now, we are set for the final game of the series, with the hosts’ only hope being a victory to get a drawn ODI series.
In the 4th ODI at Grenada, we suggested some good picks in Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Mark Wood, both of whom would’ve been less popular and would’ve earned you good points, but the decision to drop the likes of Chris Gayle and Jos Buttler would’ve hurt. We now travel to St. Lucia for the 5th ODI and both teams will be set for more fireworks, after an extraordinary 4th ODI which saw a world-record number of sixes, to go with 800+ aggregate runs.
Match info
- Tournament: England tour of West Indies 2019
- Date: 2nd March 2019, 8:30pm IST
- Venue: Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
- Capacity: 12,400+
- Series status: England lead the series 2-1.
Form (recent first)
- West Indies: L W L L W L L
- England: W L W L W W W
Stats
- West Indies haven’t had great results at this ground. Only 1 win in their last 7 ODIs here.
- England have won 3 of their 6 ODIs here.
- 300+ has been crossed here thrice. 284/5 is the highest chase here by West Indies against England in 2004.
- Chris Gayle is the highest run-scorer at this ground – 503 runs in 15 ODIs.
England
After that carnage in the last game, we’re expecting England to play an unchanged eleven. We’re going to have a huge headache selecting a wicket-keeper. It’s an obvious decision to select Jos Buttler after his blitzkrieg 150 in the last game, but here’s you chance to be different by picking Shai Hope. It’s a gamble, but you will rise huge ranks in your fantasy league if it pays off.
Another headache would be picking between Jason Roy and Alex Hales. Or will could play and Jonny Bairstow will be given a rest? In such a case, I’d drop all three and go heavy on the English middle-order including captain Eoin Morgan, Joe Root and Ben Stokes. This is a good idea since the Windies opening bowlers have been good and the chance of a few early wickets are highly possible. With the ball, don’t forget Mark Wood, while Liam Plunkett could also be your x-factor player.
West Indies
Andre Russell was ready to join the team in the 4th ODI, but he was very surprisingly not picked over Carlos Brathwaite, who showed horrible form in recent times. However, Brathwaite paid off the faith shown in him with 2/69 and a vital 50 in the chase. They still can’t afford to keep someone like Russell out for this final game, so we’re expecting Russell to come in place of Devendra Bishoo or Ashley Nurse.
Apart from being the highest scorer at this ground, Chris Gayle also has 11 wickets here. Moreover, I’m picking him not for his form but his determination. His last three scores read 162, 50, 135 and not many times in his 20-year career have we seen him score three consecutive 50+ scores in ODIs. You can also pick any one bowler between Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas, but it was the former who has bowled better lines and lengths in this series.
WI v ENG Punting
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— Read Scoops (@ReadScoops) February 27, 2019
My fantasy eleven
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