England v India – 3rd ODI

The betting on tonight’s match is all about whether or not Flintoff plays. Though there were question marks surrounding his form and fitness at the start of the series he has bowled brilliantly in the first two games and is as key to England now as ever. He hit one of the advertising boards hard whilst England were chasing leather in the last match and apparently has had some swelling in his dodgy ankle as well. Quite simply, when Flintoff plays the England team just looks so much stronger, without him they look there for the taking. The England bowling unit is finally starting to look like a unit and will ask questions of any batting line up but the much-vaunted Indian batting unit is also looking collectively strong. The two batsmen with question marks to their names, Dravid due to bad form and Yuvraj due to hardly playing at all, both spent time in the middle in the last match and will be much, much better off for it. Tendulkar is looking like the player of old now that he’s decided to take the bowling on a little, Ganguly can still take any attack apart, Dhoni, as ever, can be anything and Karthik is reliable for such a young player. If Fred plays then I have India as marginal favourites, maybe $1.90-$1.95, but if he does not then India would be much shorter. The only question mark, from an Indian perspective, is the probable cloud cover, due to an early start, but they will have massive support in Birmingham and will be highly motivated for this one. They should welcome Zaheer back into the fold tonight which only serves to strengthen their bowling.
Have 2 points on India to win at the $2.05 at Bet Chronicle, or at the $2.08 at Betfair.
India to beat England, 2pts at $2.05: Bet Chronicle.

English batsmen have never looked comfortable against leg-spin and I’m backing that to continue against the young Indian leggie Payesh Chawla tonight. He has had a great start to his cricketing career with 14 wickets in his first 8 ODI’s and 44 in 30 domestic one-dayers. He is in the team as an attacking option and it may be that the English bats will look to get after him. I think this could play into his hands and the 5/1 for him to take the most wickets for India tonight is overs. I’d have this one at maybe a tad over 4/1 ($5.00) so take ½ a point to win.
Chawla most Indian wickets, ½ pt at $6.00: Ladbrokes.

As mentioned earlier, Yuvraj Singh spent some nice time in the middle in the last match. He looked scratchy and out of sorts to start off with, but got progressively better and better. I can’t think of a reason for him not to come in at three again so would be surprised if they moved him down. He has been one of India’s best one day players for some time now and, given that he batted his way back into some form at Bristol, is worth a go at the 6/1 to top score for India at William Hills. He is destructive at times and can take any attack apart, but he has also matured and is able to build an innings more now, if need be. If Tendulkar or Ganguly produce one of their specials then Yuvraj won’t win it but that’s why he’s 5/1, in England’s team he’d be much shorter. Have ½ a point at the 6/1 - he should be a smidge over 5/1 for me.
Yuvraj Singh top Indian runscorer, ½ pt at $7.00: William Hills.

Plays of the Day
India to beat England, 2pts at $2.05: Bet Chronicle.
Chawla most Indian wickets, ½ pt at $6.00: Ladbrokes.
Yuvraj Singh top Indian runscorer, ½ pt at $7.00: William Hills.