Both England and West Indies begin their T20 World Cup 2026 campaigns with wins. While the West Indies romped home comfortably against Scotland, winning the tie by 35 runs in Kolkata, England were pushed to the wall by the small mountain nation of Nepal in their tournament opener. It was only Sam Curran’s last-over heroics that saw England defend 10 runs off the final six deliveries and take two crucial points from the match-up.

The two sides have played 38 T20Is against each other, with England leading 19-18 in the head-to-head. One match ended up as a no result. England have also won seven of their last eight completed matches, dating back to their win in St Lucia during the 2024 T20 World Cup.

WI vs ENG Squads

West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope (c&wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Quentin Sampson, Jayden Seales.

England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Josh Tongue, Rehan Ahmed, Jamie Overton, Ben Duckett.

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‘Don’t worry, mom. I’ll take care of the water’: The night that made Rovman Powell

Rovman Powell, the big-hitting Caribbean star who makes bowlers around the world lose sleep, now plays in leagues for money that would have seemed like a fairy tale to that boy with wet feet. But he remembers those damp nights with the clarity of yesterday. “I knew the importance of a male figure in the house,” he says simply. “I was that male figure.”

“My mom was a single mother, and my sister was there. As a male, part of your job is to protect. It felt natural thing to do”,’ he adds.

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