England could be dark horses at this year's World Cup

New Delhi: Chris Woakes took five for 19 as England claimed a comfortable nine-wicket victory in their first official World Cup warm-up match after dismissing a hapless West Indies for 122 in 29.3 overs on Monday.

The English team arrived in Australia in tatters after being battered by Sri Lanka 5-2 in the ODI series. Eoin Morgan was handed the reigns from Alastair Cook.

In the tri-series, England lost the final to Australia. However, they beat the fancied Indian team on two occasions to give indications of their improved form.

Players like Chris Woakes and Steve Finn have hit form at the right time for England. Suddenly, a struggling team are now looking like dark horse in the tournament.

England have one of the best bowling attacks at the World Cup. It is their batting that needs to do the job for them.

However, with bowling-friendly wickets in Australia and New Zealand, England's bowlers will have plenty of chances to win games for their teams.

James Taylor, Moeen Ali and Ian Bell will be heavily relied upon to pile on the runs by Morgan.

But from a neutral perspective, England finding form at the perfect time, bodes well for the 2015 edition of ICC's pinnacle event.