The West Indies thrashed England by eight wickets in Wednesday's ODI series decider in Bridgetown, Barbados and the five-match T20 series between the teams starts at the same venue on Saturday.
England will hope the change of format brings some improved performances and they welcome back white-ball captain Jos Buttler, who has not played a competitive match since June's T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India.
- WEST INDIES TO WIN T20 SERIES 3-2
- SAM CURRAN TOP ENGLAND RUNSCORER IN FIRST T20
- NICHOLAS POORAN TOP WEST INDIES RUNSCORER IN FIRST T20
Windies Capable Of Avenging T20 World Cup Defeat
Speaking after Wednesday's third ODI, West Indies coach Darren Sammy declared: "Our T20 team is our most successful and settled team".
That assessment spells trouble for England, who were outplayed for the vast majority of the ODI series and needed a stunning century from Liam Livingstone to get a win on the board in the second game.
England hammered the Windies by eight wickets at June's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean before losing to champions India in the semi-finals.
The return to fitness of skipper Buttler is a boost but he is playing as a specialist batsman, meaning that opening partner Phil Salt will have to keep wicket.
Salt is arguably England's key batter in T20 cricket and he scored back-to-back centuries in last December's series in the West Indies.
Despite some explosive knocks from the opener, who hit 22 sixes in five innings, the West Indies won the 2023 series by a 3-2 margin and that correct score is a tempting bet once again.
The West Indies have powerful hitters all the way down their batting line-up and their bowling attack is also shaping up nicely.
Fast-bowling all-rounder Matthew Forde was player of the series in the ODIs, taking eight wickets in three games, and Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie are dangerous T20 spinners.
WEST INDIES TO WIN T20 SERIES 3-2
Curran Primed To Showcase His Batting Talent
England's T20 squad is packed with all-rounders including Sam Curran, who is eager to establish himself as a top-order batsman at international level.
The Surrey star's displays with the ball earned him the player-of-the-tournament award in England's 2022 T20 World Cup triumph in Australia but he has progressed significantly as a batter since then and is worth backing to top-score at the Kensington Oval.
Curran enhanced his chances of a start in the first T20 with scores of 37, 52 and 40 in the ODI series and he made a maiden 20-over century for Surrey in this year's T20 Blast, slamming 102 not out off 58 balls against Hampshire.
SAM CURRAN TOP ENGLAND RUNSCORER IN FIRST T20
Back Brilliant Pooran To Be Back With A Bang
Windies coach Sammy hinted at a return to action for ace T20 batsman Nicholas Pooran, who sat out last month's tour of Sri Lanka for personal reasons.
The left-hander is one of the first names on the teamsheet when available and it would be no surprise if he came back with a bang in the series opener in Bridgetown.
Pooran has had a sensational 2024 in T20 cricket. He scored 499 runs at a strike-rate of 178 for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and made the highest individual score at the T20 World Cup, cracking 98 off 53 deliveries against Afghanistan.
His last five innings in September's Caribbean Premier League were 93 not out, 10, 27, 101 and 91 not out and he has hit 26 sixes in 15 T20 appearances against England.
NICHOLAS POORAN TOP WEST INDIES RUNSCORER IN FIRST T20
