Former champions West Indies take on Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy Group B fixture at the Oval on Friday, with both teams keen to kick off their campaign with a win.

Pakistan
Reuters

Where to Watch Live

The match starts at 10.30am BST, with Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD providing live coverage in the UK.

Overview

The Windies had a memorable time in a Champions Trophy match at the Oval last time, as they came back from the jaws of defeat in the final against hosts England, to win the 2004 edition of the tournament.

West Indies have named a strong squad for this competition, with the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy and Sunil Narine enjoying a great run of form of late, as seen in the recently concluded IPL 2013.

Bravo's side lost to Australia by four wickets in their first warm-up game but bounced back quickly to defeat Sri Lanka by 17 runs in their second outing. The Caribbeans are coming into this tournament after winning the last ICC event - the 2012 World Twenty20 held at Sri Lanka - and will fancy their chances.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have not had much of preparations compared to the other teams in the competition. With the exception of captain Misbah-ul-Haq (39), who is the oldest player in the event, they have named a very young and comparatively inexperienced squad.

However, the Asian nation regularly manages to thrive under pressure and click as a unit. Pakistan always save their best performances for the big stages and, despite having a weaker squad on paper, they will enter this game as slight favourites. Misbah's men beat South Africa by six wickets at the Oval in their warm-up match.

West Indies
Reuters

Form Guide

West Indies

  • Last Five (most recent first): W W W L L
  • Last Result: West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 17 runs

Pakistan

  • Last Five (most recent first): W T W L W
  • Last Result: Pakistan beat South Africa by six wickets

Team News

West Indies came out of their warm-up matches unscathed and have a full 15-man squad to choose from. Opener Johnson Charles scored half-centuries in both warm-up games and could come into the side in place of all-rounder and former captain Sammy.

Probable XI: Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo (c), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine, Kemar Roach

Pakistan also have no injury or fitness worries and have a full squad available for the opener. Middle-order batsman Umar Amin is pushing for a place in the line-up but could miss out today

Probable XI: Imran Farhat, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Asad Ali

Pakistan Australia South Africa