by ben
16. September 2010 13:04
After a few days off we move to the Oval for the third ODI and the ante-penultimate international of the English summer. There are few reasons to suspect that Pakistan will be any better but Gary pointed out during the last match that the England team had an "end of term" air about them. They were sloppy in the field in both the first two ODIs and didn't look like were particularly bothered about the result. It's understandable in some ways, England know they are the better side, they have proved to everyone else that they are the better side over four tests, two T20Is and two ODIs and they are looking forward to a break after a long summer. There are also some Pakistanis with a chance to stake a claim for a regular place in the team - Irfan, Alam and Shafiq - who will be giving it their......
....it's not working. I can't talk myself into taking Pakistan here. I was burned by them in the T20Is and at 3.20 I don't see the value. Despite that England's lacklustre attitude makes the match betting here a stay away in my opinion.
There are some other bets which are interesting though. I'm sticking with Steve Davies and his good form and I like the over 44.5 points* for him at CricketBetLive. He's been in good form with the bat and has a good chance at a couple of catches behind the stumps and maybe even a stumping with Yardy and Swann bowling. Kamran Akmal seems to have waited until the end of the summer to find some form with the bat, scoring 50s in both of the ODIs so far, and I like the over for his line at 40.5 points* as well.
The run lines for the match are 280 for England and 260 for Pakistan. I like the over for Pakistan, the team are finding their feet somewhat, England's fielding has been subpar so far this series and the Oval is a good strip.
Good luck.
* 1 point per run, 10/catch, 25/stumping, 20/wicket
CricketBetLive have put a special promotion on for Test Match Sofa fans.
