Sluggish West Indies face red-hot England

Two-time champion West Indies will hope to raise their game by a few notches when they open their campaign against England in a Super-12 contest of the T20 World Cup here on Saturday.

A team packed with some of the most destructive T20 players, West Indies cut a sorry figure in the two warm-up games -- against Pakistan and Afghanistan -- and will need to quickly shrug off the disappointment ahead of the tournament proper.

Poor batting hurt the team in both the practice matches. Against Pakistan, they scored a modest 130 for 7, and against Afghanistan, Kieron Pollard's men managed 133 for 5. Roston Chase's 54 off 58 balls against Afghanistan was the main highlight of the team's batting, although Pollard did show some spark when he hit a 10-ball 23 with five boundaries against Pakistan.

One of the major concerns for West Indies is the form of Chris Gayle, who scored just 165 runs in nine innings in the Caribbean Premier League and featured in just two games for Punjab Kings in the UAE leg of the IPL. Experienced all-rounder Andre Russell has had frequent fitness issues, the latest being a hamstring injury. He played only three games for Kolkata Knight Riders in UAE.

There is not much to write home about West Indies' bowling either; spinner Hayden Walsh (2 for 41) and left-arm pacer Obed McCoy (2 for 43) were their most successful bowlers in the two practice games. With Oshane Thomas in the ranks, pace still seems to be its better suit.

England, on the other hand, are the reigning world champions in ODIs, and will be itching to put the ghosts of the 2016 World T20 to rest. In the final of the 2016 World T20 at Eden Gardens, Carlos Brathwaite smashed four successive sixes off Ben Stokes to lift the cup.

Eoin Morgan's England seem a balanced side despite missing some key players in Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran. Their batting boasts of Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, and Jonny Bairstow -- all capable of destroying any bowling attack on their day.

While England lost to India in the first warm-up, they quickly recovered to beat New Zealand in the second match.

Bairstow's 49 runs off 36 balls and Moeen Ali's 20-ball 43 late in the order were the highlights of their batting against India, while Buttler slammed 73 off 51 balls against New Zealand to gear up for the showpiece.

Mark Wood and Adil Rashid snapped four and three wickets, respectively, to lead a clinical bowling display against New Zealand and with David Willey, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali also in the side, England's look like a formidable attack.