England begin the defence of their T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown with a group match against Scotland which may not be quite as straightforward as it appears on paper.
Australia, Namibia and Oman are the other Group B sides aiming to punch one of the two tickets to the Super Eights when the tournament will really heat up but there can be little room for errors if matches are postponed because of rain.
Just a year after becoming 2022 T20 World Cup champions by beating Pakistan in the final in Melbourne, England slipped up in a disastrous 50-over World Cup in India, falling at the first hurdle.
They started by losing by nine wickets to New Zealand and then failed to build on a huge victory over Bangladesh by crashing by 69 runs to Afghanistan.
After that they were pummelled by 229 runs by South Africa before losing to Sri Lanka by eight wickets, India by 100 runs and Australia by 33 runs. The rot had set in and closing victories against the Netherlands and Pakistan were not enough to carry them to the semi-finals and they returned home with their tails between their legs.
They have since lost in both white-ball formats to the West Indies before Christmas and, despite winning 2-0 in the recent rain-affected warm-up series against Pakistan, they simply can’t afford to play as poorly again or heads will roll.
England have never played Scotland in a T20 encounter but lost to them in a 50-over match at The Grange six years ago so the warning signs are there.
On the bright side England have happy memories of lifting the 2010 T20 World Cup in Bridgetown with Paul Collingwood at the helm and have reached the semi-finals in each of the last three T20 tournaments.
They know what to expect as far as conditions in the Caribbean are concerned having played there in December and their squad looks strong with Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Reece Topley providing ferocious pace and four spinners in the 15-man party capable of exploiting the expected turn in the wickets.
Captain Jos Buttler can lead by example at the top of a deep batting order and he’s 5/2 with bet365 to score the most runs for England against Scotland and 11/2 with the same firm to be player of the match. Bet365 also go 7/2 Adil Rashid takes the most wickets.
• Carlos Alcaraz has never lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas and, despite not being at his exhilarating best, is confident of finding a way past him as the French Open continues at Roland Garros. The Spaniard is 13/10 with BetMGM, BetUK and Unibet to win by over 6.5 games while Yannik Sinner is 6/4 with bet365 to beat Gregor Dimitrov in straight sets.
• Defending champion Iga Swiatek dropped just ten points in a remarkable 40-minute demolition of Anastasia Potapova and can brush aside the more strenuous challenge presented by reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova to reach the women’s singles semi-finals. Swiatek has won all three previous meetings without dropping a set and she is 10/11 with BoyleSports to win by over 6.5 games.
Coco Gauff is regaining her form and will be too strong and athletic for Ons Jabeur. Back the American, who reached the last four at the Italian Open, to win by over 4.5 games at 4/5 with William Hill.
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