England v West Indies: Morgan runs essential for home win

With the first of three one-day internationals between England and the West Indies taking place at the Rose Bowl, bowlers are likely to be more important than batsmen and so England should be backed to triumph at 8/11.

Runs are not overly common in internationals at the home of Hampshire and so it would be somewhat of a surprise if the team batting first managed to surpass the 300-run mark.

England certainly have the edge in the bowling department, with Stuart Broad and James Anderson set to return after missing the final Test with the West Indies, while Graeme Swann is apparently motivated after a tough calendar.

Meanwhile, in the past three years England have won exactly half of their one-day games at home, with West Indies securing just four victories in the same period from their one-day encounters on foreign soil.

It is 11/10 that the West Indies take the series initiative and they will be favoured if any rain causes the game to be reduced in terms of overs per side.

The West Indies possess the bigger hitters in their batting department and can rack up runs quickly if not under the pressure of preserving wickets for the final overs.

With Kevin Pietersen not playing, some added pressure will be on his replacement Ian Bell as opener, alongside fellow top-order batsmen Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott.

Eoin Morgan’s last three England appearances at the Rose Bowl have delivered two centuries and there is a chance that he will be called upon relatively early here.

Morgan is 5/1 to be England’s top runscorer, which looks more than solid value.

For the West Indies, T20 specialist Sunil Narine is the favourite to be their top wicket taker at 3/1, but Ravi Rampaul was an early thorn in the side of Middlesex and may be the better option at 4/1.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.