Free cricket betting tips: England looking strong as Joe Root set to shine
Our cricket expert Richard Mann expects England to dominate the third ODI against New Zealand and big things are expected of batsman Joe Root.
Recommended bets: New Zealand v England 3rd ODI
1pt Joe Root to be top England batsman at 57/17
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England levelled the current ODI series with New Zealand when to cruising to a six-wicket victory on Wednesday and will head into the third game in Wellington with their confidence buoyed.
By their own admission, England produced a sloppy display when slipping to a last-over defeat in the opening encounter but produced a more polished performances second time around with Ben Stokes the star of the show.
Stokes looked in much better rhythm when talking 2-42 with the ball as the hosts stumbled to 223 all out after Chris Woakes had earlier reduced them to 2-9 with a disciplined opening burst.
Stokes then top scored with the bat, his unbeaten 63 guiding the visitors' chase after Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root both fell cheaply.
The all-rounder, only recently return to the England set-up, shared a stand of 88 with skipper Eoin Morgan, who made a fluent 62, both looking to dominate a home attack that was below its best and missing the verity that Ish Sodhi's leg-spin had provided in Hamilton.
Stokes certainly looked to be finding his best touch again, the left-hander timing some gorgeous strokes off the front and back foot while Jos Buttler raced to 36 not out as England galloped to their target inside 38 overs.
The home side clearly felt the absence of Kane Williamson at the Bay Oval, his tight hamstring leaving a gaping hole at number three, and Tim Southee appeared to struggle with extra responsibility of captaincy as his bowling went at close to eight an over.
With Ross Taylor now a doubt for third game, England are expected to go on to win the series, though odds of 8/13 for victory on Saturday look about right.
Root appeared in fine touch in opening game, stroking a fluent 71 at almost a run a ball, and will have been cursing his luck having fallen victim to a brilliant catch at midwicket from Colin de Grandhomme in the second match.
With his game clearly in good working order, odds of 57/17 for him to be England's top batsman in the match seems fair.
Given we already have an investment on Root to finish the series at England's leading runscorer - highlighted in my series preview here - we're happy to drop our stakes on Saturday and but he is still worth supporting at those odds.
Man in focus
Martin Guptill began the series in a real purple patch, having amassed 694 ODI runs at an average of 57.83 since the start of 2017. Scores of 50 and 13 so far suggest he remains in good nick but, with Williamson and Taylor both injury doubts for Saturday's game, there is great responsibility on his broad shoulders and New Zealand desperately need him convert those starts into something much bigger.
Posted at 1810 GMT on 01/03/18