Just two days after the opening Test series of the summer ends, the first ODI series begins when England host Ireland in the first of three matches on Thursday. This isn’t just any normal series. Not only is it the first to be played in the biosecure bubble that is the current Covid-19 infected world, but it is also the start of the ICC Men’s World Cup Super League.
This is the competition that will determine the qualifiers for the World Cup in India in 2023 and there can be no better way of getting it up and running than with the current holders of that trophy in England, who will be in ODI action on home soil for the first time since winning that competition 12 months ago. Ireland missed out on that tournament and will be eager to get their campaign to reach the next one underway successfully.
England
England have been the best ODI side in the world for a while now but it will not be the side which won the World Cup that is on show here. In fact, it will be anything but that with England being forced into using separate squads given the truncated nature of the summer, after Covid put paid to the first half of it. That isn’t all bad though as there is some exciting talent which will get their chance to shine at some point in the three matches.
We know what England are all about in this format by now. They look to pile up the runs, and have a growing number of batsmen who can go big in this format, and then restrict opponents with the ball. If there is a question mark over England then it comes in a lack of application when they get on testing wickets, but they are unlikely to have to worry too much about that here as the Ageas Bowl decks are renowned for being true for batting.
Ireland
This is a big couple of years for Irish cricket. A lot of hard work has gone into getting them Test match status and they have tasted previous World Cups. Their next step is to continue to improve to regular make the global tournaments and start to offer up competitive showings in the longer formats. If they can claim a huge scalp here it would be a massive boost to their chances ahead of any cricket that may yet be played later in the year.
We saw the good and the bad of the Irish game in the warm up match against the England Lions. By and large this is a side that can score a large amount of runs. Unfortunately the retirements of some key bowlers mean that restricting powerful sides to low scores is more of an issue, especially on good batting pitches. The Irish were competitive against West Indies in an ODI series earlier in the year and they’ll need that same spirit and determination here, not to mention quality.
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Team News
England will be without Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes from the side which lifted the World Cup last July. That could lead to chances for the likes of Tom Banton and Saqib Mahmood while David Willey and Tom Curran are back in the fold.
Ireland also have an eye on the future and could give a debut to both Harry Tector and Curtis Campher, while Gareth Delany is already making a name for himself as an opening partner for Paul Stirling.
Betting
I’ll take a couple of bets in this match with the first of them coming in the form of the performance of Moeen Ali, a player I expect to be quite prominent in the match. He has been in good form in the inter-squad matches that England have played in the lead up to this series, smashing a decent attack for a ton here in the first of them and offering something with the ball in the other. You’ve got to be thinking that the pitches at the Ageas Bowl might tire as the match goes on with so much cricket on the square already. We have had England’s Test and ODI teams preparing here while two Tests have also been played, so I fancy Moeen’s bowling to come into play here. Ireland don’t play spin very well so we could get the two wickets which will see us over the 38.5 points but with England’s batting in action for the first time it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if Ireland get down to Moeen so he can bat. I think he’ll be in the game enough for this line to be covered.
The other bet I like is the 5/1 on England captain Eoin Morgan to lead their run scoring in the match. Morgan enjoys batting against the country of his birth. In five innings against them he has a ton and two 50s and he has a wonderful record here at the Ageas Bowl as well. His 76.25 average on this ground is nearly double his career ODI average. He has two of his 13 ODI tons here as well as a pair of 50s and two more 40s in just 12 knocks. That is half the innings on this ground he has made 40 or more and often when he gets in here he goes very big. Morgan will want to lay a marker down here and find some form with the IPL six weeks away. He’s a decent price to top score at 5/1.
Tips
Back M.Ali’s Performance – Over 38.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back E.Morgan Top England Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 6.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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