Cricket Bettting: Live on Skysports 1: Thu 10.30: England have contrived to turn a 1-sided potential series whitewash into a possible drawn series should Pakistan continue the fight over from The Oval.
England suffered from a classic case of complacency in the 3rd Test against Pakistan as the tourists hauled themselves back into the series with a solid win at The Oval.
This time, at Lords’, England retain favouratism as 4/5 shots with Betdaq to win the 4th Test and see out the series 3-1. Pakistan are distinct outsiders – 9/2 with Sportingbet, a surprising price given their display at The Oval. One factor that cannot be ignored is the rain hanging around London at present. The weather forecast is fairly patchy but not disastrous, the 5/2 on the draw (888sport) is certainly an interesting price given the amount of rain that is rumoured to be on the way.
England are obvious 1/6 short odds-on candidates (Totesport) to win the series as they are also covered by the draw should the rain close in but there is no value there. England were anything from 1/16 to 1/50 to win the series after storming to a 2-0 lead but how things have shifted since then. England showed exactly the same mental characteristics in the recent one day series vs Australia; they took a 3-0 lead then simply didn’t perform. Australia showed a bit of spirit and were allowed to take the final 2 games. With the invigorated Yousuf in the middle order, there’s no reason why Pakistan shouldn’t make a nuisance of themselves again.
Amir, Asif and Ajmal all weighed in with wickets again and were backed up nicely by left-armer Riaz. England looked much more laboured in attack, Swann and Anderson doing most of the damage while Broad and Finn struggled to find the form of the previous 2 Tests. Swann can carry on his form and top bowl for England, an 11/4 shot with William Hill. Picking a top bowler for Pakistan is a bit trickier made even harder by the return of Gul, so a market best left alone.
As for batting, Ali Cook showed much better composure to knock 110 and is a good 9/2 shout with Ladbrokes to top score for England. Yousuf leads the market for Pakistan at 7/2 (Blue Square) and why not, he has buckets of experience and could be the match winner for Pakistan.
The feeling is that England are going to blow their powerful start. Backing Pakistan at 9/2 is good odds and with the draw at 5/2 (both Bet365), it might be well worth spreading stakes over both, giving you an 11/10 shot about England not winning.
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