England go back to Eden Gardens for the first time since their agonising loss in the World T20 final on Sunday when they face India in the third and final ODI of their current series.
After defeats in Pune and Cuttack, England know the series has already gone but with a T20 series to come they will be looking for a morale boosting win. India haven’t lost to England in the Tests or the ODIs and they’ll be aiming to keep it that way.
India
Four of India’s top six have made centuries in the two matches so far which will please them and if their openers can find some runs here then nearly every box will be ticked for them in terms of their batting line up heading into the Champions Trophy. This is their last ODI before that tournament so it would be ideal if they can find runs at the top.
The concern for them heading forward will forever be their bowling attack but there aren’t many bowlers who are successful in ODIs in India at the minute so when they get to England that unit could come alive especially the seamers on wickets which might offer a bit of assistance.
England
In fairness England haven’t been far away in either match. On both occasions they have had India three down early on but they haven’t been able to press home their advantage and they have paid the price for that. If they can keep the pressure on for a bit longer they might yet force the Indians to crack.
We know England are batting well and with the depth of their batting line up they can give any target a scare so for them it is all about the bowlers winning the key periods. If England can improve with the bat it is by turning the 70s and 80s into 120s and above to really get them ahead of the game and in a position of dominance.
Team News
India were given a scare when they arrived in Kolkata by Shikhar Dhawan going to hospital for a check on an injury but he has been given the all clear and he is set to feature here. That means India could be unchanged.
England will be forced into a change as Alex Hales is out of the remainder of the tour having broken his hand. All indications suggest that Sam Billings will come into the side in his place. There is talk of Jonny Bairstow playing too.
Eden Gardens
Surprisingly there have only been 28 previous ODIs on this ground. India have played in 19 of those with 11 wins, seven defeats and a no result. England have played three matches here and they’ve lost the lot.
Traditionally this hasn’t been a high scoring ground but it is the place Rohit Sharma hit his 200 in the last ODI here and the trend in recent years has been for a better batting strip although low scores in the domestic long format might go against that.
Betting
As regular readers will know I’m not a huge bettor in dead rubbers but the sixes have been kind to us so far in the series and I’m going to go with them again to see if we can get the hattrick of them in.
There is no sign that the bowlers are restoring parity in the gulf between bat and ball in this series so I’m expecting another high scoring match with the boundaries and the sixes in particular to flow. The line is slightly bigger at 14.5 but I still don’t think it is big enough on a ground which is a low smaller in area now than it used to be.
Tips
Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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