West Indies v England 1st ODI predictions: Captain Liam Livingstone to make a splash?

England’s tour of the West Indies gets underway on Thursday with the first of three one-day internationals to be played in the Caribbean and they will be without skipper Jos Buttler again (6pm, TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+).

The 34-year-old, who missed the recent series with Australia, is still suffering with a calf injury but could join up the squad in time for the five-match T20 series.

Liam Livingstone will captain the side in his absence, while Phil Salt is expected to continue behind the stumps.

Uncapped Essex wicketkeeper Michael Pepper has been added to the squad in place of Buttler, although we’re unlikely to see a Salt and Pepper combination at the top of the England order.

Livingstone’s return to favour has been quite a surprise after he was initially left out of the England squad for the last series with Australia, and only called up as a replacement for Buttler.

He made 108 runs in five innings as England agonisingly lost the series 3-2 following a rain-affected final match. Livingstone will become England’s sixth captain of the year in all formats.

Harry Brook, who deputised for Buttler in September is unavailable due to fixture congestion, while Salt has been given time to find his form in the 50-over format, despite having led the side in the T20s.

Betting sites have priced Livingstone up at 17/5 to finish as England’s top scorer in Antigua, behind Salt at 16/5 and Will Jacks at 3/1.

England’s white-ball players will need to perform better than they have in recent times over in the Caribbean, having lost their last three-match ODI series in December 2023 2-1 as well as their last two T20 series.

Both teams are very much in transition. England go into the series with another stand-in coach while they wait for Test coach Brendon McCullum to take the reins in January.

There will be several players in this squad looking to impress the incoming head coach ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy given the absence of a number of regulars, while Ben Stokes has also been touted for a return to the 50-over fold.

Jofra Archer, Reece Topley and Adil Rashid will provide the experience in the bowling attack, but there are chances for Hampshire’s John Turner and Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood to press their case for starting roles in the future.

Jordan Cox and Rehan Ahmed are late additions to the squad following their involvement in Pakistan and unlikely to feature on Thursday.

The West Indies also go into the match on the back of 2-1 defeats in ODI and T20 series to Sri Lanka but given their recent record against England, Shai Hope will be hopeful his side can bounce back.

Evin Lewis will be one to watch for England after he scored 102 not out against Sri Lanka just last week, in his first appearance in an ODI in more than three years. Lewis scored four six innings in his impressive knock and he has history against England.

His highest-ever score in 50 over cricket came against the Three Lions in 2017 when he retired 176 not out at the Oval. Odds of 9/2 are available on cricket betting sites for him to top score for West Indies at North Sound.

We’re looking for value elsewhere with our pick using Betfred’s #PickYourPunt, offering a price of 6/4 for Livingstone and Lewis to score one or more sixes in the match.

Given the power of both players, Livingstone has hit 36 sixes in 27 innings for England, while Lewis has 56 in 55 ODI innings for the West Indies, we’re taking it for our prediction.

West Indies v England prediction: Lewis and Livingstone to hit 1+ sixes each - 6/4 Betfred

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