England v India – 6th ODI

I always think that a 7 match One Day series is at least two matches too long, you get near the end and normally rabidly loyal fans become indifferent to the result. Obviously you can’t include Indian fans here, they could probably watch a 700 match One Day series and still get excited coming in to the last few games, so long as they were playing Pakistan anyway. Picking a winner here is becoming a bit of a riddle. It looks like England are going to miss at least Ravi Bopara, a promising young gun all-rounder, and probably Andrew Flintoff, whose troublesome ankle continues to vex not only him, but the whole of England. My feeling is that India should probably just be favourites. The pitch is likely to be full of runs, and the felling amongst both camps is that there will be some turn there. This would help India both in the batting and the bowling departments and, in the absence of Flintoff, I’d slightly favour them to win it. If they weren’t so astonishingly appalling in the field then I’d like them a lot, but as it is I only make it a smidge of value at just over evens on Betfair or at the even money readily available. India have that 12th man ‘momentum’ coming in to bat for them so have a point at the Even money and hope the series goes to a decider.
India to beat England, 1pt 2.08 with Betfair (5% commission).

The Little Master turned back the clock at Headingley to deliver us a small win in a match bet against the out of form Kevin Pietersen and I would suggest a small go for him to deliver again. That 71 off 59 balls took Tendulkar’s series tally to 250 runs at exactly 50, his new positive mantra reaping immediate rewards for both him and us. His match up however, will be happy when he can put this series behind him. Pietersen hasn’t really had a bad run of form in ODI’s to date but 85 runs in 5 matches definitely is one. He complained in the Test Series of being exhausted, if you saw his girlfriend you’d know why, and it looks like mental fatigue is now getting the better of him. Tendulkar would be a smidge shorter than last time, about $1.85-1.88 so, again, just a point.
Tendulkar to beat Kevin Pietersen Batsman’s Runs Match Bet, 1pt at $1.92: NZTAB.

Stuart Broad has been largely under-estimated by William Hills throughout the series in their “player to get the most wickets in the match” market, but I think there’s a lot to like about him. He takes the new ball, will bowl at the death, is aggressive and looks for wickets and Andrew Flintoff is unlikely to play. The 10/1 is a bit big for me, I think 8/1 is more in the right area, for a bloke who is likely to bowl his quota and, crucially, bowls at the death. There are often cheap wickets late on, especially if the opposition are going for quick runs, and there are only a few players who are capable of getting a big haul to beat him. Just have half a point at the 10/1.
Stuart Broad Most Match Wickets, ½ pt at 10/1: William Hills.

Plays of the day
India to beat England, 1pt at 2.08 Betfair.
Tendulkar to beat Kevin Pietersen Batsman’s Runs Match Bet, 1pt at $1.92: NZTAB.
Stuart Broad Most Match Wickets, ½ pt at 10/1: William Hills.

© 2007 Punting Ace.com