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Twenty 20: Morgan absence could aid England fightback

With two matches to go, England find themselves 2-1 down to West Indies and now without their injured captain Eoin Morgan.

The tourists went into the series expected to see off a Windies team that failed to get out of the group stage of the World T20 last year, but the hosts have been impressive - especially with the bat.

The Kensington Oval is the venue once again for the fourth T20 clash, with the teams going head-to-head on Saturday evening with West Indies available at 11/10 and England 8/11 to win the latest meeting.

Skipper Morgan sidelined

Having already been without the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan for the series, England have now been hit by the setback for Morgan.

The captain sat out the third match of the series, having suffered a thigh injury, and will play no part in the final two matches.

The ECB have played down concerns of how serious the injury is, saying it is 'relatively minor', but that does mean the coaching team have more selection dilemmas.

From a batting perspective, it shouldn't cause England too many problems - especially when you take into account Morgan's recent form with the bat.

The 35-year-old has not scored a T20 half-century in any of his last 18 international innings and seven single-figure scores during that time. In his defence, England have been winning matches and the top order have scored big which means he hasn't had to.

It's more his influence in the field and the way he marshals his troops that will be missed, with Morgan widely touted as the best limited-overs skipper on the international stage.

Moeen Ali is expected to deputise again as captain, while Harry Brook could be handed another chance to impress in the middle order.

Yorkshireman Brook made his debut in the third match and made 10 off 13 balls, as England eventually lost by 20 runs in what proved to be a runfest.

Opener Tom Banton top scored in that match with 73 off just 39 balls and the wicket-keeper is 5/6 to score over 21.5 on Saturday, while another fifty for Somerset star can be backed at 10/3.

The new additions, Brook, Phil Salt and George Garton, will now be more attuned to the conditions and will be desperate to prove that they are worth a regular place in this England white-ball set up.

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Windies need to keep up batting level

We went into the series questioning where the West Indies T20 squad was going and they have certainly shown the are still a force to be reckoned with in the shortest format of the game.

After impressing with the ball in the first-match victory, they blasted their way to success with the bat on Sunday after setting a massive target of 224-5.

Phil Simmons' men will be well aware that England almost chased it down and that they need to continue to look for big scores to keep the pressure on the tourists.

Rovman Powell took all the plaudits in match three with his first international T20 century, with an incredible 107 in just 53 balls, winning him the Player of the Match award.

The 28-year-old, who currently has a 28.58 average in international T20 cricket, is 15/2 to score the most sixes in Saturday's clash in Bridgetown.

But one other West Indies player who has really caught the eye is Romario Shephard, with the all-rounder having an impact with both ball and bat in this series.

The man from Guyana took three key wickets in England's run chase on Sunday - Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone and Salt - whilst also chipping in with an unbeaten 44 in match two.

Shephard, who is 20/1 to be Player of the Match on Saturday, could be key to the Windies’ hopes of taking this five-match series.

Despite the continual rebuilding process in West Indies cricket, the hosts are certainly always difficult to beat on home soil - winning 10 of their last 16 T20 matches in the Caribbean.

Toss could prove crucial

Not surprisingly, the conditions are once again set fair for the final two matches of the series (both starting at 8pm UK time), with the forecast for sunshine and 28 degrees.

It's worth noting that the side that has batted first has won the last two matches and the coin toss could prove crucial in match four.

Ironically, West Indies won the toss in match two and decided to field, before going on to lose. Then England elected to field in Wednesday clash before also losing the match.

With just one win from the last two games needed, the hosts are now 4/9 to win overall while England can be backed currently at 7/4 to fightback and take the five-match series.

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