Richard Mann identifies a couple of bets in the Man of the Match market for Tuesday's T20I clash between England and the West Indies.
Cricket betting tips: England v West Indies
0.5pt Adil Rashid to be Man of the Match at 14/1 (General)
0.5pt Jacob Bethell to be Man of the Match at 13/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
England’s T20I series with the West Indies finishes in Southampton on Tuesday, 6.30pm UK time, and I won’t be shedding too many tears following an underwhelming start to the English international summer.
I did shed a few tears on Sunday, when both teams to score 200+ runs bets went down after the tourists finished on 196-6 batting first, despite blasting 47 from the final two overs.
Quite what they were doing in the middle overs, with wickets in hand, is anybody's guess, though I suspect they initially gave far too much respect to England spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson, still bruised from Friday’s defeat in Durham on an unusually dry surface up north.
Rashid has a fine record against the West Indies, but with plenty of spin on offer, Dawson stole the show that day, finishing with figures of 4-20 on his return to the England set-up.
On Sunday, the West Indies plainly got their tactics wrong, believing the pitch in Bristol had more demons in it than it actually did. Only when they let their foot off the handbrake late in the innings would they have realised how badly they had missed a trick.
Can the West Indies finally go big?
I still think this West Indies T20 batting line-up has big scores in them, but Southampton isn’t guaranteed to suit better than Durham and Bristol did.
It’s been a mixed bag from a small sample size here in the Vitality Blast this season, with Hampshire making 230 on one occasion but Gloucestershire getting rolled out for only 119.
And when England and Australia contested a T20I on this ground last September, 179 played 151, though that fixture came very late in the season.
Nevertheless, I will sit out the both teams to score markets this time, especially with the West Indies continuing to dumfound.
What are the best bets?
Instead, I’m going to have a couple of small bets in the Man of the Match market on ADIL RASHID and JACOB BETHELL.
Rashid has looked as good as ever this summer, taking nine wickets against this opposition in the preceding three-match ODI series, and then bowling expertly in Durham.
He eventually went for plenty in Bristol, but Southampton is a much bigger ground than the one on Sunday and if the West Indies finally decide to take the attack to Rashid, they could be in trouble.
Beautiful work from Adil Rashid and Jos Buttler 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/eSbVn9kH5G
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 8, 2025
The surface here generally offers something for the spinners, and Rashid now has 38 T20I wickets against the West Indies at an average of 13.97. His numbers in ODI cricket against the tourists are equally impressive.
He ought to be a big player again, so 14/1 should give us a good run for our money.
Bethell a star in the making
As for Bethell, available at 13/1, he really is the coming man for England in all formats, and it’s been noticeable how much his left-arm spin has been used already this summer.
He finished with 2-27 in the series opener, and then 1-24 on Sunday, while with the bat, he has made a couple of rapid cameos to go with the outstanding 82 he made in the ODI series.
The full package, Bethell will be involved in so much that England do on Tuesday, so betting on him to make another big impact makes sense.
Preview published at 1500 BST on 09/06/25
Related links
Safer gambling
We are committed in our of safer gambling.
Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
