England vs. West Indies, World T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

England and West Indies meet at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday in the opening fixture in Group 1 of the Super 10 stage of the ICC World Twenty20.

The two teams—both former winners of the competition—have faced each other 12 times in the shortest format. Per ESPN Cricinfo, the men from the Caribbean have won eight of those meetings.

Sri Lanka, South Africa and Afghanistan, who came through first-round qualifying at the expense of Zimbabwe, are the other nations in the pool.

Date: Wednesday, Mar. 16, 2016

Time: 7:30 p.m. local (2 p.m. GMT / 10 a.m. ET)

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Live Stream and TV Info: Fox Sports (Australia), Star Sports (India), Sky Sports ((UK), Sky Sports (New Zealand), Willow TV (USA), SuperSport (South Africa), ESPN Caribbeans (West Indies)

Weather: According to AccuWeather.com, the conditions will be good for cricket. Temperatures are expected to be around 23 degrees Celsius during the evening.

Overview

England against West Indies could be a fun way to begin what looks, on paper at least, to be the weaker of the two groups (the other contains Australia, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand and Pakistan).

Both teams look capable of scoring big runs. Both teams bat deep. Both teams can also go from the sublime to the ridiculous, all in the space of one 20-over innings.

Eoin Morgan's England are a bit of an unknown package. They lack experience of playing in India—per Gideon Brooks of the Express, only five of the 16-man squad have ever played an international match there.

However, they do not lack for talent, as shown in their six-wicket win over New Zealand in a warm-up fixture on Saturday.

Jason Roy made 55 from 36 deliveries in the game at the Wankhede Stadium, suggesting he will start the tournament as Alex Hales' opening partner.

However, the Surrey right-hander has only made 104 runs in 13 T20 internationals for England, with scores of 15 and nine in the two-match T20 series in South Africa in February hardly cementing his spot in the XI.

James Vince—man of the series when England defeated Pakistan in a T20 action in the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2015—is waiting in the wings.

Yet Roy's lean run has led to him having a moment of clarity, per Arun Venugopal of ESPN Cricinfo: "I have got to realise I need to give myself time, I'm not a robot."

With the benefit of having a genuine all-rounder in Ben Stokes, England have the luxury of being able to pick six front-line bowlers without weakening their batting order.

The selection dilemma is over who to choose from the seam quartet of Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Reece Topley and David Willey. It would seem to be three from that four, although England could go with an extra slow bowler, which would mean handing an international debut to uncapped off-spinner Liam Dawson.

DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/Getty Images

West Indies, meanwhile, are not short of options themselves.

Their preparations have included warm-up fixtures against India and Australia. They were soundly beaten by the former on Thursday, but bounced back with a three-wicket win over the latter on Sunday.

Having strolled out with his team in trouble at 49 for five against the Australians, captain Darren Sammy made an unbeaten 50 from 28 deliveries to see his side home with one ball to spare in Kolkata, India.

Johnson Charles has opened in both games on Indian soil, suggesting he is likely to bat alongside Chris Gayle at the top of the order.

Lendl Simmons might have filled that role, but he was ruled out of the competition with a back injury. Uncapped batsman Evin Lewis was called up in his place, as confirmed by ESPN Cricinfo.

Batsman Darren Bravo, spinner Sunil Narine and big-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard also pulled out of the initial squad selected in February, per CricBuzz.

Still, those who have made the trip have enough talent to repeat their success at the 2012 event, when Sammy lifted the trophy on Sri Lankan soil.

They are back on the subcontinent looking to repeat the trick, albeit the absence of Narine—who took three for nine in a low-scoring final against Sri Lanka four years ago—is a blow.

Key players

England

Adil Rashid's leg-spin bowling will be crucial to England's hopes of going far in the event.

The Yorkshireman showed his value on Indian wickets with three for 15 in the friendly fixture against the Black Caps. Now he returns to the same venue hoping for similar figures against the West Indies.

Rashid has only taken nine wickets in T20 cricket for his country, while his economy rate is a leaky 7.72 runs per over. However, conditions in India can help him improve those figures.

West Indies

Chris Gayle is a limited-overs specialist these days, even though he has not appeared in a T20 game for West Indies since Jan. 2015.

The batsman may be a bit rusty at the highest level, but he has a vast knowledge of playing in India from his experiences in the Indian Premier League.

The left-hander has a liking for the big stage, too. In the opening match of the World T20 in 2007, Gayle blasted 117 from just 57 deliveries against South Africa (a match the Proteas went on to win, by the way).

Squads

England

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (wk), Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey.

West Indies

Darren Sammy (capt), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Evin Lewis, Jerome Taylor.