The delayed T20 World Cup starts for real on October 23rd and England are set to start the event as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
England head to the UAE looking to win the tournament for the second time, with their only success to date having come back in 2010, and good preparations could be key to their hopes.
India up first for Morgan’s men
Eoin Morgan will lead his side into a warm-up clash with India on October 18th, with their opponents the current 5/2 favourites to win an event that they last won in 2007.
England will go into the match having won five of their last six T20 internationals and going further back, they have claimed victory in 13 of their last 19 matches in the shortest format.
Their last series defeat though came against India earlier this year, with the hosts having come from behind to win the five-match series 3-2.
Skipper Virat Kohli led them to a 36-run victory in the last game of that series, with an unbeaten 80 helping them to set what proved to be a winning total of 224-2.
Kohli remains a key figure for India and is the 7/1 favourite to finish the tournament as the top batter, but there looks to be better value amongst the Indian ranks.
Rishabh Pant has been outstanding in all forms of the game since making his international debut in January 2017, but, having struggled with the Delhi Capitals in the recent IPL campaign, he has drifted to 20/1 in the Top Batter market.
Livingstone Emerging as a Force
With the likes of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes missing through injury, the England selectors have got some key decisions to make on team selection prior to their opening Super 12 game against West Indies on October 23rd.
This summer’s home series with Pakistan gave the chance to some other players to establish themselves and one person who took that chance with both hands, was Liam Livingstone.
The Lancashire batter has played just seven T20 international innings and has a strikerate of 167.47 and already has a T20 ton to his name.
Livingstone may find himself a bit further down the order than he’d like, so Jason Roy might be better option in the runscoring markets. Opener Roy is 5/2 to be England’s top batter at the tournament.
Mills a Potential Matchwinner
On the bowling front, Tymal Mills has been included in the squad having been out of the international picture for four-and-a-half years.
His performances for the Southern Brave in The Hundred certainly caught the eye and the Sussex left-armer is likely to be seen as the person to partner Chris Jordan in taking on death bowling duties.
Mills, who has played in the Big Bash and the IPL, is 20/1 to finish the tournament as the top bowler, whilst Jordan can be backed at 33/1.
Black Caps Provide Another Test
Following the clash with India, England will then face New Zealand in their final warm-up match – which takes place Abu Dhabi on October 20th.
The Black Caps have never won or even reached a final of the T20 World Cup, but their squad suggests they could go deep this year.
Rated as the fourth best T20 side in the world rankings, New Zealand are in a group which includes India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and are currently 6/1 to lift the trophy.
*All odds correct at time of writing
