India v England free cricket betting preview and tips for second Test on Saturday

Cricket betting tips: India v England second Test

2pts Cheteshwar Pujara to make a first-innings fifty at 13/8

2pts Ollie Pope to make a first-innings fifty at 7/4

1.5pts Cheteshwar Pujara to make a first-innings century at 7/1

0.5pts Ollie Pope to make a first-innings century at 8/1

Who saw that coming? In truth, not even the most loyal of England supporters could have sensibly predicted a first-Test rout for the tourists, but in beating India by 227 runs in Chennai, Joe Root’s outfit have given themselves every chance of claiming what would be the most significant achievement to date for this improving side.

Perhaps the signs were there after all, with last summer’s series wins over West Indies and Pakistan preceding a comfortable 2-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in Galle only a couple of weeks ago.

There can be little doubt that this is a team very much on the up, but to beat India in their own back yard usually requires five days of near-perfect cricket, particularly given the hosts came into this series on the back of a remarkable success story in Australia. But that’s exactly what England produced: the perfect performance.

The visitors will now march into the second Test, which begins early on Saturday morning UK time, with the strong belief that they have the weapons in their armoury to pull off what be would be a seismic series victory. In Root, they have a batsmen at the very peak of his powers, one who is now touching greatness and might well end up there by the end of his career, while the truly world class all-rounder that is Ben Stokes continues to provide the crucial link between the batting line-up and a well-balanced bowling attack that boasts genuine pace, craft, experience, and two honest and serviceable finger spinners.

The craft is provided by Anderson whose masterful fifth day spell of 7-4-8-3 broke the back of India’s resistance on Monday and surely silenced any remaining doubters who question his ability to perform away from home. At 38 years of age, Anderson might even be taking his game to another level and match figures of 5-63 put his opposite number, Jasprit Bumrah, firmly in the shade.

Don’t be surprised if England’s rest and rotate policy means Anderson makes way for Stuart Broad on Saturday, before the series moves to Ahmedabad for the final two Tests, the first being a day/night affair which the Burnley veteran will be already eyeing up. Still, Broad’s excellent form over the last 18 months means he will be a more than adequate replacement to slot in alongside spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess, who claimed 11 wickets between them in the series opener.

Leach deserves plenty of credit for bouncing back from his first-innings mauling at the hands of Rishabh Pant to finish with six wickets in the match - four of which came in the second innings. With India’s top six laced with right-handers, I expect Leach to be England’s main weapon again next week, though instead of taking the 11/4 for him to be England’s top first-innings bowler, perhaps it will be worth waiting until the second innings to strike a bet on the Somerset man.

The second Test will again be played in Chennai, on another flat surface that takes spin the longer the match goes on, and while Leach might have to work hard for his wickets in the first innings, he will no doubt be afforded more assistance later in the peace. Not all firms will offer a second-innings top bowler market, but a few did in their in-running books for the first Test, and anything in the region of 9/4 about Leach second time around would be worth taking.

With Root continuing to dominate the England batsman markets, taking a price on Stokes or Ollie Pope is less attractive as it was last year with the Yorkshireman in a vein of form reminiscent to that Michael Clarke enjoyed between 2012 and 2013, Virat Kohli in 2018 and 2019, and Steve Smith in 2019. Once set, these great players invariably go big and Root is in the midst of a similar purple patch at present.

That isn’t to say there aren’t angles to be explored here, though, and I’m particularly keen to have the aforementioned POPE on side in the second Test. Given he has had no cricket – barring a single intra-squad warm-up match in Sri Lanka – since injuring his shoulder last summer, Pope did well to hit the ground running and record scores of 34 and 28 last week, looking increasingly assured as the match went on.

That ought to prove significant, given that was also Pope's first Test match in India, and but for sacrificing his wicket in the second innings when in search of quick runs, he would have surely made hay as he got to grips with these alien conditions.

To steal a racing phrase, I strongly expect him to come on for the run and given the impressive start he has made to his Test career, it seems fair to assume that a sizeable contribution won’t be far away. Backing Pope to register a first-innings fifty at 7/4 looks the way to go, with a smaller stake at 8/1 for him to convert to three figures also advised.

With India desperately needing to win next week to arrest a worrying slide that has now seen Kohli preside over four straight losses either side of Ajinkya Rahane’s wonderful leadership in Australia, the pressure levels are sure to ramp up on the hosts.

If Kohli’s defiant 72 on Monday is anything to go by, he will come out fighting and in times of crisis, he and his team have come to rely on CHETESHWAR PUJARA.

India’s rock at number three, Pujura came into this series on the back of another strong showing Down Under and his first-innings 73 confirmed he remains in excellent touch and will have probably left him eager to make that big score he has proved so adept at providing throughout his career.

Pujara has already made 18 Test centuries - five coming against England no less - and while I noted in my series preview that he might still be a touch vulnerable to the short ball, the slowness of the Chennai pitch just took that threat out of the equation.

With conditions not expected to be much different for the second Test, and Jofra Archer by no means certain to play back-to-back matches, Pujara will surely be eyeing a big contribution.

13/8 for him to make a first-innings fifty is fair enough, and as with Pope, I’ll happily top up at 7/1 for him to convert to three figures. In fact, given his position in the batting order and his proven track record, it’s easy to argue that the 7/1 for Pujara to make a century is a shade too big relative to Pope's 8/1 quote.

I’m happy to back both, and will adjust my stakes accordingly.

Posted at 1610 GMT on 09/02/21

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