Two changes for Windies, one for England, with compelling series locked at 2-2
West Indies won the toss and chose to bat vs England
It was the fourth time in the series that West Indies had won the toss, but the first time they had chosen to bat first – and with the series locked at 2-2, Pollard acknowledged that the contest was a “virtual final”, the sort of contest in which runs on the board can prove decisive with the stakes at their highest.
Moeen Ali, once again captaining in place of the injured Eoin Morgan, claimed he was happy with the toss outcome, despite his incorrect call. “I would have bowled first,” he said. “It is a difficult one but we chase well generally, so happy chasing.”
“Pretty simple really, we’ll try to defend the short side,” Moeen said of England’s bowling tactics against West Indies’ power-packed line-up.
West Indies: 1 Kyle Mayers, 2 Brandon King, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Rovman Powell, 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Jason Holder, 7 Fabian Allen, 8 Odean Smith, 9 Romario Shepherd, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Sheldon Cottrell
England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Tom Banton, 3 James Vince, 4 Moeen Ali (capt), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Sam Billings (wk), 7 Phil Salt, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Reece Topley
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket