England emphatically won the ODI series against Australia in entertaining and authoritative style on Tuesday and they will be looking to continue their way towards a whitewash when the two teams meet in the fourth game of five in Chester-le-Street on Thursday.
Australia had one of their worst days on a cricket field on Tuesday and while they will be eager to put it right you do wonder just how much damage that has done to them psychologically. They won’t want to be whitewashed though.
England
I mentioned in the preview of the previous match that England would want a perfect performance after scratching their way to a couple of wins in the series and boy did they deliver that! They were dismissive, dominant and brutal with the bat in their hands with everyone who walked out teeing off on a beautiful wicket.
That will no doubt have pleased Eoin Morgan but what may well have delighted the England captain was the intensity they managed to keep up with the ball. There was never any chance of Australia chasing down such a score but England bowled with aggression, discipline and to plans. It was a wonderful night for them and the task is to get as close as they can to backing that up.
Australia
If they didn’t know they had major problems when they boarded the plane to the UK, Australia certainly know it now that is for sure. To be fair they have contributed to their own issues because some of their decisions on and off the pitch are baffling not least the move to stick Aaron Finch in the middle order.
That hasn’t just backfired on them but it has actually ruined their star player when he could have been contributing in a much more significant role. The other thing that is hampering them is the absence of so many top level bowlers. They just don’t have the attack to deny this rampant England top three.
Team News
You would think England would be unchanged after such a win but Eoin Morgan hinted on Tuesday that with the short turnaround in time he may well rotate his bowlers so Jake Ball and Tom Curran could get a game. It makes no sense to flog Mark Wood other than this is his home ground.
Who knows what Australia can do just to be competitive now let alone look to win a match. They need to get Finch batting up the top of the order. How they do that remains to be seen. There is talk that Nathan Lyon will come in. After conceding a ton in nine overs last time out Andrew Tye might get an unforeseen rest.
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Betting
I don’t normally bet on dead rubbers but I’m prepared to roll the dice a little here although I’m only taking a couple of bets that I took at Trent Bridge plus a speculative top batsman bet and a runs bet. I expect the runs to keep on flowing in this match. England aren’t going to slow down from here but with changes to their attack Australia might get a little relief with the bat plus they will surely rework their order at some point. The international and one day wickets at CLS are top class these days and with a sell-out crowd in Durham will want them coming back so I expect a good batting wicket where the two sides can combine for more than 570.5 runs.
Jonny Bairstow looks to be in the form of his life right now and I’ll back him to go beyond 32.5 runs in his innings. He has four tons in his last six ODIs and the one time in that run he didn’t cover this total he made 28. He is timing the ball so well but what I like about him is he’s still giving himself a few overs to get in before getting expansive. The white ball does nothing here so Bairstow’s runs can continue to flow.
Adil Rashid took the most England wickets in the previous match at Trent Bridge and he has already taken 4/47 on this ground against Durham this season when for much of his spell he was unplayable. Amazingly, Durham are probably better players of spin than this Australian side are so I’m expecting Rashid to get in the wickets again here. On this huge ground Rashid can toss it up and go on the attack. It could be the cat stalking the mouse. The mouse may drag out its inevitable death but the cat will catch it eventually. As will Rashid.
Ashton Agar clubbed a few at the back end of the innings at Trent Bridge the other night and while I don’t expect him to have a chance of top scoring with the damage England’s win could have done to Australia I’m certainly not going to completely rule out the prospect that they put in a poor performance here. If they do and if they keep persisting with Finch in the middle order there might be a score that Agar can catch when he gets in. I don’t see him top scoring but at 20/1 in a side shot to pieces I’ll pay to find out.
Tips
WON – Back Over 570.5 total runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Fun88
Back it here:
WON – Back J.Bairstow – Over 32.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back A.Rashid Top England Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back A.Agar Top Australia Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with NetBet
Back him here:
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