CHESTER-LE-STREET: England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan is keen to see how his side fares against an “experienced” West Indies team in the one-off Twenty20 International here on Saturday.

The fixture is the only Twenty20 fixture before the two sides begin a five-match ODI series, which gets underway in Manchester next week.

England recently won a three-match Test series 2-1, after West Indies, belying their reputation as a weak outfit in cricket’s longest format, upset the odds to win the second Test at Headingley.

But the upcoming white-ball clashes are set to see West Indies, who beat England in the 2016 World T20 final in Kolkata, India, bolstered by the likes of powerful opening batsman Chris Gayle.

“They probably have a bit more experience [than their Test squad] which is great,” Morgan told Sky Sports at Chester-le-Street on Friday.

“We want to play against the best possible side available to play in order to try and improve our game,” the Middlesex batsman added.

“We’re a very young side and we have a long way to go in T20 cricket. Our consistency levels have been up and down so it’s all to play for tomorrow.”

While acknowledging the presence of several strong ball-strikers in West Indies’ line-up, former Ireland international Morgan said England had batting firepower of their own.

“It’s one of their strengths,” he said. “It’s probably one of our strengths as well. It’s going to be a really exciting game.”

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2017