England begin their defence of the T20 World Cup on Tuesday with a Group B match against their cross-border rivals Scotland in Barbados.
Jos Buttler’s side are the overwhelming favourites to secure a comfortable victory after winning both of their warm-up matches against Pakistan.
England are in the region of 1/16 to get off to a flying start with Scotland available to back at around 8/1 for the upset.
- MARK WOOD TO BE ENGLAND TOP WICKET TAKER
- BRADLEY CURRIE TO BE SCOTLAND TOP WICKET TAKER
- HIGHEST OPENING PARTNERSHIP - ENGLAND
Wood Can Upstage Archer
It has been a while since England had both of their 90mph quick bowlers fit and available at the same time and they will pin their hopes on both Jofra Archer and Mark Wood making it through the tournament unscathed.
Wood topped 95mph in the recent warm-up match against Pakistan, while Archer looked to be close to his economical best in this format.
The Barbados-born cricketer will surely enjoy playing back where it all began for him and his knowledge of the Kensington Oval wicket should stand him in good stead on Tuesday.
But, although Archer has a superior economy rate in this format, Wood has the better strike-rate and has looked the more threatening bowler when they took on Pakistan.
The Durham paceman has taken multiple wickets in seven of his last nine T20 internationals, bagging a trio of scalps in five of those.
MARK WOOD TO BE ENGLAND TOP WICKET TAKER
Currie Could Trouble England
Scotland won six out of six in qualifying last summer as they used their home advantage to see off the likes of Germany, Jersey, Italy, Austria and Denmark with relative ease before a final group showdown with Ireland.
The Irish, who also qualified, fell eight runs short of their victory target after having their top order blown away by fast bowler Bradley Currie.
The Sussex seamer dismissed Ireland's top four batters on his way to finishing with career-best T20I figures of 5-13.
Currie also claimed the wicket for former England ODI World Cup winner James Vince with his second ball on his T20 Blast debut last summer, so clearly has the ability to pick up some more big scalps on Tuesday.
BRADLEY CURRIE TO BE SCOTLAND TOP WICKET TAKER
Lancashire Duo To Make Fast Start
England’s batting line-up looks to be stronger at the top with some doubts about the consistency of finishers like Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone.
Lancashire Lightning stars Jos Butter and Phil Salt both arrive at the tournament in tip-top form and will look to take the game away from England’s opponents by attacking the bowling in the powerplay overs.
They took that approach in both of the warm-up matches against Pakistan that were unaffected by the weather, putting on opening stands of 25 in 19 balls at Edgbaston and 82 in 38 balls at The Oval.
The average opening partnership when they have batted together for England in this format is an impressive 66.12.
Scotland’s recent opening stands have been fairly dismal by comparison, with the first wicket going down with scores of 2, 22, 16, and 24 on the board in their last four completed T20 internationals.
HIGHEST OPENING PARTNERSHIP - ENGLAND
