Hosts England to take on vibrant Windies today

World number one England will take on eighth ranked West Indies in a blockbuster World Cup encounter in Southampton today. The game is slated to get underway at 1500 Sri Lanka time.The English led by Eoin Morgan remain in the top four despite the shock loss to Pakistan last week.he two imposing wins against South Africa and Bangladesh have yielded four points for the pre-tournament favorites.

Jason Roy, Joe Root and Jos Buttler have all scored 100s in the tournament while Jonny Bairstow, Skipper Morgan and Ben Stokes have also been among the runs.

Along with India, the hosts have the best batting lineup in this year’s Cricket World Cup. Pace sensation Jofra Archer has uprooted some of the very best in the business while Chris Woakes and Co. has utilized the conditions to their advantage in the three corresponding fixtures.

England bounced back from the loss to Pakistan by comprehensively beating Bangladesh as they racked up a stunning 386/6 to register their seventh 300+ score in a row and break the world record for most consecutive 300+ totals in ODI history.

The only real negative from that match was the hip injury sustained by key batsmen Buttler and although he is responding well to treatment, he is a doubt for today's match.

West Indies on the hand demolished Pakistan with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries and ultimately bowled them out for a mere 105 in their opening encounter.

Oshane Thomas finished with 4/27, while captain Jason Holder and Andre Russell shared five wickets between them before the Windies clinched a seven-wicket win.

The loss against Australia highlighted the Caribbean islanders inexperience, as the new brigade failed to get them over the line in what was a winnable World Cup encounter.

West Indies were then thwarted by the rain on Monday as they had South Africa reeling at 29/2 in Southampton and had to settle for a point apiece as the game was abandoned.

Andre Russell was left out of that game as he continues to struggle with a knee problem and Kemar Roach came into the side.

Multidimensional Russell is expected to return to the starting line-up today. Darren Bravo came back in for Evin Lewis in the abandoned match but neither player has been able to contribute in either innings they have played so far which continues to be a weakness for the Windies.

The two teams played a hugely entertaining ODI series earlier this year in the Caribbean and won two games apiece with another match washed out.

However England will be confident on home soil and their batting has the edge in form in what could easily be another shootout.

It is likely to rain at the Rose Bowl and a chunk of the match could be affected. Rain is expected to subside as the day progresses, with a largely cold day expected due to persistent cloud cover and overcast conditions.

The Rose Bowl is a pretty flat deck with not much seam movement from the surface, and if weather permits, fours and sixes will be in abundance in the South East part of England today.

Prediction: Win number two for the Windies