England cruised to a six-wicket win against West Indies, their biggest in terms of balls remaining.

England v West Indies: Live scorecard

Sign up tobet365to be entered into a draw for the chance to win a Wisden Hoodie, terms and conditions apply, more information here. 18+ begambleaware.org

Missed the action? Have a look at this Adil Rashid stunner to send back Andre Russell. England’s top-ranked T20I bowler for a reason.

As one-sided as a Super 12 game can be

8.2 overs is all it took England to finish it off, but it wasn’t as easy as it might have seemed. England stuttered a bit, their batters were tied down by West Indies, but they still managed their biggest chase in terms of balls remaining. There was plenty to take away from the game though: Moeen Ali was spot-on in the powerplay, Mills more than made up for Wood’s absence, and Morgan was exceptional with his bowling and fielding changes. Not so much to take home for West Indies, they’ll have to really think hard about this defeat.

Overs 6.1: England – 39-4, Drama, drama

Let’s talk about the Akeal blinder first. Top, top effort. I felt, from one angle, that the ball was touching the ground as he went into a tumble. From another angle, it looked like some part of his finger was underneath the ball. That said, this is turning out to be a pretty dramatic chase for a 55-run target.

Wisden’s Ben Gardner thinks so too:

Hmmm. I don't think that was out, but it seems like I might be the only one

— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) October 23, 2021

Update: Gayle and Rampaul combine to give West Indies their first wicket of the T20 World Cup. Incidentally, this combination also gave them their first wicket in the inaugural edition (also the first men’s T20I World Cup game).

You would have thought that the openers will cruise through, but Akeal Hosein is effectively playing Moeen Ali’s role here, keeping them silent. If only they had more runs to play with.

Over 2: England 10-0 – Will England wrap it up inside the powerplay?

England started with spin, so do West Indies. Kieron Pollard stationed himself at (extremely short) short-leg, almost touching distance to the batter. How quickly will Buttler and Roy polish off this chase?

Over 10: West Indies – 55 all out – It’s not really the West Indies-England clash anyone expected

What. Just. Happened? The West Indies side, the great West Indies side, defending champions of the tournament, have crumbled to their second-lowest T20I score ever. Russell and Pollard, really the last remaining hope for West Indies, were packed and sent back by Adil Rashid. There’s a cheer from the Dubai crowd as the Windies’ team total crosses 50. It’s so unlike the run-fest they would have imagined.

Update: It’s going to be interesting to see what approach Pollard takes here. For starters, he needs to do what none of his teammates have done so far, trying to build a start. England have kept Pollard’s areas restricted: there’s been hardly anything full enough to be hit down the ground (an area he loves), and the leg-side has been taken care of, including a player each at deep-square leg and deep fine-leg to cater to his pull-shot cravings.

Over 9: West Indies – 42-6 – Russell and Pollard left with a mountain to climb

It’s just the tenth over, and Pollard and Russell are already in the middle. It’s been that kind of a day. Russell walks in with six down, and tries to muscle the first ball away. Pooran played a nothing shot at a half-volley. And just as a say that, Russell can do nothing about an Adil Rashid googly, the first ball of his spell. If I think of it, that’s probably the only dismissal so far that wasn’t a scoring shot.

Update: Anchors, where art thou? This is probably what happens when an array of power-hitters are collectively having an off-day. The West Indies batters have been guilty of not weathering the storm – at least on three occasions, the batters tried to follow a boundary with another extravagant stroke. Maybe, just maybe, Roston Chase could have been a calming presence?

Over 6: West Indies 31-4 – West Indies are slipping, and slipping fast

One would have thought that Mark Wood’s absence would have hurt England today, but things have gone exactly to plan so far. The powerplay was supposed to be West Indies’ active scoring period; all they have done is lost four of their top batters. Morgan has been top-notch with his field placements too – he kept Gayle both Hetmyer tied up with a packed off-side field, and bowled out Moeen in the powerplay.

Over 5: West Indies – 27-3 – The first 25 minutes have been all about Moeen

In the last seven years, Moeen Ali had taken a total of five T20I wickets in the powerplay. Today, he’s taken two!

Brilliant call by Morgan to keep Moeen on. Hetmyer tried to play with the field, first tonking one to deep mid-wicket, and following it with a beautiful inside-out drive. He tried to go for one too many though, falling to the pressure created by Moeen in the field restrictions.

Update: Make it two! Lendl Simmons is following his opening partner to the pavilion, leaving two new left-handers in the middle. His leg-side hoick only goes as far as deep mid-wicket. What do Hetmyer and Gayle, two naturally free-flowing batters, do here?

Over 2: West Indies – 9-1, England get an early one

Moeen Ali, you beauty! Takes revenge for the six he conceded in the first over with a brilliant catch. Evin Lewis probably woke up today getting himself ready to face Mark Wood, but instead got greeted with spin from one end and Chris Woakes’ seam from another. He smacks a six off Moeen, but ends up lobbing one down at long on, where Moeen Ali sprints, circles around, and takes a brilliant catch by the boundary.

Before the first ball, England and West Indies players take the knee.

The anthems are done, and it’s time for live action. It’ll start with spin, with Moeen Ali getting ready to bowl to the opening pairing of Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons.

England XI: Buttler, Roy, Malan, Morgan, Bairstow, Livingstone, Moeen, Woakes, Jordan, Rashid, Mills

West Indies XI: Lewis, Simmons, Gayle, Pooran, Hetmyer, Pollard, Russell, Bravo, Hosein, Rampaul, McCoy

Toss update: Eoin Morgan wins the toss and opts to bowl first. 

By the looks of it, there might not be any of Mark Wood’s thunderbolts on display today. Dawid Malan might get a spot, to add more depth to England’s batting.

Even as things get settled at the Dubai International Stadium – the spider-cam gets a final look, the robocam gets a jog around the 30-yard circle, and spectators slowly trickle in – West Indies and England players warm up ahead of the toss.

Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, both wearing training caps, are currently bowling in tandem on the practice strips. Next to them, West Indies’ pace attack gets into the groove, even as the rest of the line-up does a bit of loosening up. Former captain Daren Sammy, now a commentator, looks at the proceedings from the sidelines.

Almost a week into the competition, Dubai gets its first game, with two former champions England and West Indies taking on each other.

T20 World Cup 2021 Eng v WI: Team news and injury updates

England were comprehensively defeated by India in the first warm-up game, while they won the next warm-up against New Zealand.

T20 World Cup 2021 England squad: Full team list for Eng

West Indies lost both their warm-up matches on the way to the Super 12 stage. They were beaten comprehensively by Pakistan and Afghanistan. Fabian Allen suffered an injury and was subsequently replaced by Akeal Hosein.

T20 World Cup 2021 West Indies squad: Full team list for WI

T20 World Cup 2021 England v West Indies: Where to watch Eng WI live

India: Star Sports Network; Disney+ Hotstar

UK & Ireland: Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Mix; Sky Sports app, www.skysports.com

Caribbean: ESPN

Pakistan: PTV Sports

Australia: Fox 503, Fox 505, Fox More +; Foxtel GO, Foxtel NOW, Kayo Sports

The complete list of broadcast (TV and live streaming) options for the tournament can be found here.