- Saturday May 25, 2024, 2.30pm
- Edgbaston, Birmingham
The series now rolls on to Edgbaston, with both nations suffering an inconvenience to their World Cup preparations up in Leeds.
I’ll be honest my thoughts haven’t changed too much following the washout, though I don’t expect this game at Edgbaston to be quite as high-scoring as it would have been at Headingley.
England are too short for the win, 4/9, for me to get on board with even though I do expect them to win this fixture.
Let’s concentrate on individual success in the second city
In the game one preview, I gave you three names to look out for - Adil Rashid, Phil Salt and Fakhar Zaman. Well, the value remains ahead of Edgbaston, while Jofra Archer could be back with a bang for the home side.
Leg-spinner Rashid is available at 7/4 to take over 1.5 wickets in the match. I thought he’d do it at Headingley on an excellent batting pitch, and I’d be even more confident of him doing it at Warwickshire’s home, where the pitches can be slower and more spin-friendly.
Archer is a boosted 2/1 with Ladbrokes to take two or more wickets in a fixture he has to play in. England need to get some overs into their spearhead quick ahead of the World Cup following his injury hell over the last couple of years.
There are two top run-scorer prices on Phil Salt and Fakhar Zaman which I’m very surprised to see available. I will intersperse them with a couple of other bets along the way.
Salt, who is set to open for England and is in good form on the back of a good IPL (435 runs for Kolkata), is 3/1 with William Hill to score a fifty in this fixture.
He is also 4/1 to be England’s top batter, available with betfair.
He scored back-to-back T20I centuries in the Caribbean just before Christmas. That’s a great price.
I’ve also been present when he’s had success at Edgbaston. He took Yorkshire apart whilst batting for Lancashire at Finals Day in 2022.
I’ve suggested Archer for two wickets. Well, how about three? Ladbrokes have priced him up at 5/1 to achieve this. That’s a decent price considering I’ve seen it offer at threes elsewhere.
And Fakhar remains available at 6/1 to be Pakistan’s top batter in this fixture, again with betfair. The experienced left-hander, who may well bat at number four in his side’s order, has scored three fifties in his last five T20 innings, including two for his country. To me, that’s a fantastic price.
His chance may open up if Archer gets amongst the wickets with the new ball.
Top Cricket Betting Offers & Free Bets
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