West Indies v Pakistan: World Cup betting preview, TV channel, team news & tips

TV: Sky Sports Cricket, 10.30am Friday

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

The West Indies meet Pakistan in a clash of two exciting World Cup outsiders and both teams have plenty of major-tournament pedigree in England.

The Windies won the first two World Cups at Lord's, in 1975 and 1979, while Pakistan have more recent course form, beating England in the semi-finals and India in the final to claim the Champions Trophy in 2017.

Pakistan come into the tournament on a ten-match losing run in ODIs, suffering series clean sweeps against England and Australia, but bookmakers are struggling to split them and the Windies in a fascinating fixture at Trent Bridge.

Best bets

Pakistan have probably played better than their long losing streak suggests but facing the West Indies' batting powerhouses on a flat pitch at Trent Bridge will not be easy.

The Pakistan batsmen scored plenty of runs in their 4-0 series defeat to England with Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman making centuries and skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed scoring 97 at Headingley.

But their rate of scoring still isn't up to scratch in the modern era of ODIs and at a venue such as Trent Bridge, the West Indies' array of power hitters could prove decisive.

The Windies are one of the few teams to go toe to toe with England's batsmen in recent series, drawing 2-2 in the Caribbean this year, and they smashed New Zealand's bowlers for 421 in Tuesday's warm-up in Bristol.

Chris Gayle, who hit 424 runs in just four innings against England, remains the main box-office attraction in his final World Cup but the Windies' supporting cast is packed with talent.

Shai Hope has been in magnificent one-day form, Evin Lewis cracked 176 not out against England at The Oval in 2017, and Andre Russell arrives fresh from a dazzling IPL campaign in which he hit 52 sixes and scored 510 runs at a strike-rate of 205.

Shimron Hetmyer is another thrilling prospect with the bat and skipper Jason Holder has impressed after promoting himself to number six.

There seems little to choose between the pace-bowling attacks and, while Pakistan's Shadab Khan can provide some leg-spinning magic, Windies off-spinner Ashley Nurse has bowled well in the warm-ups and the Tri-Series in Ireland.

The 3-1 about Babar top-scoring for Pakistan is too big to ignore as the classy number three averages more than 50 in ODIs and looks a cut above his teammates.

He scored 115 against England at Trent Bridge in the fourth ODI and followed up with 80 in the final game at Headingley and 112 in the warm-up clash with Afghanistan in Bristol.

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Team news

West Indies
Opener Evin Lewis is fit to partner Chris Gayle and young paceman Oshane Thomas is pushing for a place in the bowling attack.

Pakistan
Leg-spinner Shadab missed the England series because of a virus but is back for this tournament. Veterans Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik are probably scrapping for one spot in the 11.

Venue

Bowlers have had a tough time at Trent Bridge recently as England amassed record scores of 444-3 against Pakistan in 2016 and 481-6 against Australia last year. And Pakistan were unable to defend a decent total of 340 against England earlier this month, losing by three wickets.