by ben
2. December 2010 17:11
By all accounts the pitch at Adelaide is even flatter than the one we saw in Brisbane, at least for the first few days anyway. The onus is very much on the bowlers for each side to step up and prove they can take wickets unaided by careless batsmen. Last week I stuck my neck out and picked Alastair Cook at 7.0 to be top England bat and recommended going over his run line for series of 290.5. Prescient though I am even I didn't foresee him covering his series line in the 1st test! The left hander looked to have regained his majestic form of his early test career even managing a few straight drives late in his innings. The other man who looked in great form at the Gabba was Ian Bell but he was somewhat overshadowed by the three centurions in England's second innings. His points line at CricketBetLive for Adelaide is 69.5* and I like the over. He only has 50 catches in his 58 tests but in his current form I'd be happy going over 69.5 runs, even without the catches as a potential booster.
In all the meddling of the Australian side Xavier Doherty has escaped unharmed. The slow left armer looked utterly innocuous in the first test with little turn, minimal variation in flight and pace and no real mystery ball. His points line is 68.5 and whilst he is up at number 8 for Australia he is more regularly at 10 for Tasmania. The under seems like a gimme.
Keep an eye out for CBL's periodic happy hours which they flag to their twitter followers. For these periods you can get great offers like England to score over 400 at 8-11 (1.7). Whilst everything points to a high scoring test I am against the consensus from the odds and think that England's superior bowling attack should help to a first innings lead (2.0).
Good luck.
* 20 points per wicket, 1/run, 10/catch, 25/stumping.
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