India and England clash for the final time on Wednesday before next week's Champions Trophy, and Richard Mann offers his thoughts here.
Cricket betting tips: India v England ODI
1pt Jamie Overton top England bowler at 15/2 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
England get one final crack at India before the Champions Trophy begins next week when they meet in their ODI series finale in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, 8:00am, UK time.
India already have series victory secured following Sunday’s win in Cuttack, following on from the preceding T20I series triumph, and it requires a big leap of faith to see England finishing the tour on a high.
Any notion that India will suffer from a lack of motivation on Wednesday is countered by the immensely strong competition within their squad, highlighted by the fact Yashasvi Jaiswal was axed for the second game when Virat Kohli returned from injury.
There are so many options India could choose from that everyone within their group will feel the need to keep performing – as captain Rohit Sharma illustrated with his obvious relief upon completing his back-to-form hundred on Sunday.
England, too, are fine tuning their preparations for the Champions Trophy and with Jacob Bethell now ruled out through injury, it will be interesting to see if his replacement, Tom Banton, gets a game here.
With Tom Banton called up by England, let's take a look back at some of his best moments on the international stage! 🏴#WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/YqA2bg0cg0
— Somerset Cricket (@SomersetCCC) February 10, 2025
I’ve said for a while now that I can see a situation where Banton is opening the batting for England's in next winter's Ashes, and he took a big step in the right direction with a fine summer across formats for Somerset last year, and then more recently when finishing as the second highest runscorer in the ILT20.
Banton has always been a huge talent, if not a little rough around the edges, but he has really matured in the last few years and might be one to back for runs, if selected.
Root the man to beat again
Joe Root did us a good turn on Sunday, landing 7/2 and 7/4 winners, and he remains the man to beat in the top England batsman market in a line-up that is still trying to work out the game, particularly the 50-over format.
I wouldn’t put anyone off sticking with Root, but he has done his job now, so I’m happy to let him go on this occasion given the prices on offer won’t keep me awake at night should he indeed follow up.
Despite making 31 on Sunday, Harry Brook really had to work hard for his runs (strike-rate of 59.61) and he still doesn’t appear to have landed on a workable method against India’s high-quality spinners.
Brook has batted seven times on this tour so far, only making a solitary fifty. Sunday’s hand was the only other time he has reached 20, so shorting his match runs around the 25-run mark does make appeal.
I’ll just about resist, in the hope Brook, such a rich talent, will work things out before long. Furthermore, it did look on Sunday that he was happy to just spend some time at the crease with bigger targets on the horizon.
Snap up the value on Overton
The one price that stands out is the 15/2 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook) about JAMIE OVERTON to be top England bowler.
England are investing heavily in Overton, a much-improved batsman who has been tasked with finishing the innings in that tricky number seven position, and a burly seamer who still bowls quickly and has always been a wicket-taker.
So far on this tour, Overton hasn’t delivered with the bat, but his bowling has been good. In the T20I series, he turned in a string of solid displays, including when taking 3-23 in Rajkot. He followed up with two more scalps on Sunday.
His searing yorker to knock over Shubman Gill was a beauty, and in truth, he and Liam Livingstone, on paper expected to combine to fill the fifth bowler quota of overs, were in fact the pick of the away attack.
In that T20I aforementioned series, Overton’s strike-rate (12.2) was superior to that of Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood, and if he bowls anything close to his full set of overs, he should be competitive.
15/2 is big enough to lure me in for a small bet.
Posted at 1415 GMT on 10/02/25
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