Mumbai, February 10 After a surprising defeat at the hands of a lower-ranked Nepal in the opening match, England will be looking for a more assured performance when they take on the West Indies in a crucial Group C match of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
Both teams have won the competition twice in the past, and are aiming for a third title win, just like the tournament co-hosts and defending champions, India. The challenge will be to maintain their best performance on the given day, as margins can be very thin in T20 cricket.
This was a challenge that England experienced when they played against a team several levels below them, but one that presented a tough challenge on the field.
Nepal's four-run defeat, or the narrow win that England secured in their opening match a few nights ago, was a challenge that the former champions overcame by a very small margin. However, this will certainly keep the Harry Brook-led side on its toes going forward.
Sam Curran was the hero of the match for England, who had put up a total of 184/7. He was relentless in his line and length in the final over to defend 10 runs and help his side emerge unscathed in a contest that Nepal had threatened to dominate.
Overall, England felt that their batting department performed better than their bowlers collectively.
Adil Rashid went wicketless after a long time, and Jofra Archer, who has almost all the required skills for the format, was targeted by Nepal, who exposed the weaknesses in this England bowling attack.
However, Brook and young Jacob Bethell scored half-centuries, and the other batters also looked in rhythm, even if they could not build on their starts.
England's narrow win has kept them in second place, as the West Indies had won their opening match against Scotland by a margin of 35 runs to take the first position.
On their part, the West Indies will know that there is very little room for error, especially at a venue where the pitch has been conducive to bowlers in the first two matches.
Both India and England had to show application with the bat, while the shorter boundaries at the Wankhede Stadium did not come into play until Nepal batted, which was the fourth innings on the same surface where India and USA had played earlier.
The West Indies were led by a brisk 64 from Shimron Hetmyer and a superb five-wicket haul from Romario Shepherd, which helped them thwart any challenge that Scotland could put up for a successful outing.
However, the mercurial Caribbeans, who lost a T20I series 1-2 against Nepal last September, had also been defeated 0-3 by England in their last meeting, which will keep the side under pressure heading into this clash.
Teams:
England: Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton (wk), Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue.
West Indies: Shai Hope (c&wk), Johnson Charles (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales.
Match starts at 7:00 PM IST.