Luke Wood and Matthew Forde miss out as both teams tweak combinations for T20 World Cup clash in Mumbai
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!England won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies in their T20 World Cup fixture in Mumbai, with captain Harry Brook backing the chasing option based on venue trends. “We had a look at the stats and it favours the team batting second, so we’d like to have a chase tonight,” Brook said after the toss.
England made one change from the side that edged past Nepal by four runs in their opener, replacing left-arm seamer Luke Wood with right-arm quick Jamie Overton. The move adds pace and late-order hitting, with Overton’s pinch-hitting seen as a potential asset in the death overs.
West Indies also opted for a single, tactical change. Captain Shai Hope brought in Roston Chase in place of Matthew Forde, citing the need to counter England’s left-handed batters. “We would have bowled first, but now we’ve got to set the tone with the bat,” Hope said. “It can be a blessing and a curse playing an opposition you know so well. We’ve got to bring our A game.”
England’s opening win was set up by Will Jacks’ unbeaten 39 off 18 balls and finished off by Sam Curran’s exceptional death bowling, as he conceded just five runs in the final over with Nepal needing 10. West Indies, meanwhile, were more comfortable in their first outing, beating Scotland by 35 runs. Shimron Hetmyer’s half-century steadied the innings after early wickets, before Romario Shepherd claimed a five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick in a dramatic late over.
The match revisits a venue rich in history between these two sides. It was here that Chris Gayle struck a memorable 47-ball hundred in the opening game of the 2016 T20 World Cup, a tournament West Indies went on to win by defeating England in a classic final at Kolkata.
England XI:
Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
West Indies XI:
Brandon King, Shai Hope (capt & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie


