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Another day, another T20. They seem to happen all the time now. This one is scheduled to be played on the same slow spinning strip in Cardiff that Sunday's was with the same long boundaries. That likely means another low scoring affair with slow bowling the order of the day. The match odds are the same as Sunday and I'm having another crack at Pakistan at 2.8 at CricketBetLive. They have the slow bowling in Ajmal and Afridi to take advantage of the pitch and if Razzaq and his skipper can actually get more than 3 overs in the middle they could get some runs as well.

Given the pitch I also like the unders on first innings runs - England's line is 150.5 and Pakistan is 140.5, both at CricketBetLive.  On Sunday I felt that if Pakistan got to 140 they would have done really well and it would be a tough total to chase.  As it was England dropped three easy catches and Pakistan still only got 126. The run and wicket lines pre-match all seem pretty low and I'm loath to go under a line that a batsman can beat with four streaky boundaries.

As always keep an eye out for the unders when the spinners come on. The main bet here is the next wicket but you can also take a longer view with under on innings runs.

Pick of the day is under next wicket as soon as the spinners (Swann/Afridi/Ajmal) come on. Good luck.

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...I predict that Shaoib Akhtar's hair will already be a lank, sweaty, disgusting mess. As for the actual match predictions, they are a bit tougher.  Pakistan played well against a Somerset XI  earlier in the week and the change of faces, partly enforced and partly by choice, will enable them to forget about the hammering they took in the Test series. I like them to win one of the two T20s and at 2.84 at CricketBetLive I think they are good value.

England have changed things up a bit with their batting bringing Steve Davis, the Surrey 'keeper, back into the line up and retaining Kieswetter just for his batting. It seems like an odd choice to me as the South African hasn't had a great season with the bat but he has continued to perform in the ODI set up for England and it's probably fair to keep him in the side. I like Davis over 32.5 points at CBL, I think the best opportunity for run scoring will be at the start of the innings against pace on what is traditionally a slow and low scoring pitch at Cardiff.

One bet to be alert for during the game is the run lines. Often on these pitches where the ball doesn't really come on teams can start well but the loss of one wicket signals a flurry and a run line that was at 190 can tumble down to 160 pretty fast. I'd look to go under the runs just as the main spinners come on for each team, Ajmal for Pakistan and Swann for England. I'll also be going under the next wicket to fall when they come on.

Good luck, pick of the day is under on the next wicket when Swann comes on.

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So here we go again, for the final time this summer. The forecast for the first day is pretty bad but with play possible Friday-Monday we should have another result. Although Pakistan played much better last test I still don't believe that MoYo on his own has cured their batting worries. With cloud cover for the first couple of days and a Lords pitch that helps more early on I like the under on both team's runs lines at CricketBetLive. England are 2.35 for under 349.5 and Pakistan are 1.75 for under 299.5.

Kamran Akmal had another woeful test with the bat at the Oval and despite taking eight catches he only managed 90 points. For that reason I like the under on his line of 82.5. If you were listening in you will have heard Kiwi paceman Iain O'Brien give a clinic in how he assessed batsman. Part of that was him identifying how to bowl to Yasir Hameed and the England camp have obviously been listening in. I like the under on 19.5 runs for him.

Favourite bet is England under 349.5. Short post tonight as I've just got back from cricket tour which you can read about here if you're interested.

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Ahead of the third test Pakistan have had to make two enforced changes and one optional one. Zulqarnain Haider, the star of the second test and sofa favourite, has been ruled out of the rest of the series with a fractured finger. The injury was exacerbated by Stuart Broad hurling the ball at him during his innings of 88 so Kamran once again engineers a return to the side. Umar Gul pulled his hamstring and whilst Pakistan are hoping he can recover for the ODIs and T20 matches in September he will not feature in the two reamining tests. The options to replace him are Tanvir Ahmed and Wahab Riaz. Tanvir is a right arm pace bowler who has not played any international cricket even at the age of 30. He was however the leading wicket taker in Pakistani domestic cricket last year. Riaz is a left-armer who has featured for Pakistan before in five ODIs and a T20 but not since 2008. The final change will be to bring in Mohammed Yousuf for one of Umar Amin or Azhar Ali.

Although the Oval pitch should be easier to bat on than Edgbaston and Trent Bridge were, there will likely still be cloud cover to help the bowlers. I like the under on both sides runs and you can get England under 399.5 at evens at CricketBetLive. The Pakistan line is 290.5 and I like the under here as well. Even with MoYo back in the side they will struggle either against swing bowling at the top of the innings or Swann later on. The England runs line is a bit more debatable as without Gul Pakistan will probably really struggle if they are out in the field for any period of time. Despite that with Cook and Pietersen out of form we should at least get a chance to hedge out the bet around 350 as early wickets fall.

For individual bets I am going under Cook's runs line of 27.5 at CBL. The runs he got for Essex in the T20 semi-final hide an innings in which he still looked badly out of touch and the Hampshire bowlers gave him easy pickings. I am also going over Swann's player points line of 117.5. Pakistan will probably hold up a bit better on the Oval pitch than in previous tests so he should get a good chance to bowl at them. He should also pouch some catches at 3rd slip with the bounce and carry at the Oval.

One bet to be alert for in-running during the game is MoYo's runs line. He has now had some match practice at Worcester where he scored 40 from just 54 balls but this was against a 2nd string bowling attack for an already terrible county. He plundered most of those runs against Chris Russell who has only ever turned out for Worcester 2nd XI. Whilst he's obviously a class bat I suspect the run line will be too high and I would be edging towards the under.

Pick for the test is under on Cook's runs. Good luck.

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I like Hampshire over Essex as Ryan ten Doeschate is a big loss for Essex. He has averaged 74 for them in the competition this season and jetting in Dwayne Bravo for one game is unlikely to come off. Essex are also missing Scott Styris who is on international duty with New Zealand in Sri Lanka and Cook is seriously out of form.  All this means that two of Essex's top five run scorers in T20 this year aren't playing and one is badly out of form.  You can pick up Hampshire at evens at CricketBetLive.

Somerset - Nottinghamshire is much harder to pick. Both sides are packed with top quality talent and county experience. I like the match up of Trescrothick versus Nannes - Tresco has faced express pace before and as a left hander should find things easier against the J-rod's favourite cricketer. These sides have never faced each other in T20 cricket before and this season's two county championship games have been shared one each. However with Broad released to play I think Notts will have too much for Somerset but the odds at CBL reflect how tight a call it is (both teams 1.94).  Broad took 8-168 in the April game that he was available for and he will be the difference between the sides.

The hosting side have never won the T20 (hosting side have featured twice, Surrey in 2005 and Notts in 2006) and I don't think Hampshire will be able to buck this trend. Even if they beat Essex then I don't fancy them at all against Somerset or Notts. Somerset inflicted some serious psychological damage on Hampshire earlier this year when they took the last six wickets for 4 runs to win by 7 runs at the Rose Bowl.  Then, in the return fixture at Taunton, Somerset sauntered to Hampshire's 220, chasing it down in just 18 overs thanks to 78 in 27 balls from Tresco.

It looks like the winner of the second semi-final will take home the trophy for the 6th time in eight years and I think Hussey will be the man to hoist it for Notts.

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