England v West Indies – 3rd ODI

I get the feeling that If West Indies were 6-0 up in a seven match series then England would still be $1.59 to win the seventh…though prices sometimes fill you with incredulity, ours is not to wonder why…but to punt away and get drunk on the winnings. So that is what I am suggesting you do tonight. I didn’t think there was too much to choose between the teams at the start of the series and, after sharing the spoils in the first two matches, I have seen nothing to change my mind for the decider. If Shiv Chanderpaul wasn’t fit then, of course, my opinion would change drastically. The man has just been immense for West Indies all summer, it’s just a pity for him that no-one else has really ‘come to the party’ as Duncan Fletcher would say. On the flip side, England’s colossus, Kevin Pietersen, has gone through a bit of a drought and Us KFC backers will obviously hope that continues tonight.

This England side is a young side and it may well be a side for the future, personally I think there are at least one or two experiments too many, but at present it is finding its feet and is far from the finished article. You could say the same about West Indies, but at least most of the team have more than a modicum of international experience to call upon. There is also the possibility that they a more unified bunch since the ditching of their superstar, and primadonna, Brian Charles Lara. Win or lose tomorrow the $1.59 is too short, lay it. I’d suggest 4 pts.
Lay England v West Indies, 4 pts at $1.59: Betfair.

The stand-in captain the selectors didn’t want hasn’t exactly done himself justice in England this summer and I’m sure he will be looking to make amends tonight. He’s the sort of bloke who likes to go out with a bang – as we saw in the final Test Match of the summer, hitting 28 from 24 and 52 from 71 in a match they were trying to draw, and I think he may well try and do the same tonight. When Chris Gayle scores runs it is normally in an attractive and exhilarating manner so the 16/1 at BlueSq appeals for him to be Man of the Match. At the top of the order he at least has every chance of making a match winning score and, as there is more rain forecast, the match might even be shortened – giving Gayle even more chance to show us his destructive side. There’s a lot of percentage in these books, but I couldn’t have him bigger than about 12s so have half a point on him and hope Mr Cool goes out with a bang.
Chris Gayle Man of the Match, ½ pt at $17.00: BlueSq.

Plays of the Day

Lay England v West Indies, 4 pts at $1.59: Betfair.
Chris Gayle Man of the Match, ½ pt at $17.00: BlueSq.