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Cricket in-play betting tips: England v Sri Lanka third Test latest odds and advice
Richard Mann previews day four of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Oval.
After what must surely be one of the worst days this England team have endured since Brendon McCullum and Bazball swept the nation, Sri Lanka are only 125 runs away from an improbable Test victory at the Oval.
Make no mistake, this was a shocking day for England, a dismal performance with the bat seeing them bowled out for only 156 in their second innings. And things would've been much worse but for a sparkling 67 from Jamie Smith.
England are in no shape to think they can win back the Ashes next year, but more on that tomorrow. For now, it's hard to see how they don't slip to an embarrassing defeat given Sri Lanka still have nine wickets in hand.
Pathum Nissanka is the key for Sri Lanka, having seemingly broke the back of the run chase to finish the third day unbeaten on 53. He batted beautifully but also demonstrated, like Smith earlier in the day, that this is a good pitch when the sun comes out.
Monday promises to be overcast, though not as bad as on the first two days, and the biggest issue for England supporters is less the weather, but more a bowling attack which is beginning to look tired.
This has been a long summer for Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson, and it's beginning to show, while Josh Hull doesn't yet look ready for this level. Olly Stone, so impressive in the first innings, might be England's last hope.
The betting suggests there is almost no hope. Sri Lanka are 1.14 on the Betfair Exchange at the time of writing, with England out to 7.8. Looking at the match situation, one could argue England are still too short.
I suspect the reason England aren't bigger is because we have witnessed three seismic batting collapses in the match already. On day two, England lost seven wickets for 64 runs as their first innings imploded in spectacular fashion, only for Sri Lanka to lose five for 52 on Sunday morning. England would better that within just a few hours.
So England will wake up on Monday morning knowing that wickets can easily fall in clusters, and that this Sri Lanka batting line-up will need to pass a mental and technical examination in order to win the Test match.
Perhaps there is a final twist in the tale, then, but identifying an England hero from a bowling attack that looks just about out of puff isn't easy.
All things considered, there just isn't enough juice in the current England price to persuade me to have a bet, for all I find it hard to have maximum faith in Sri Lanka finishing the job without alarm.
It's a no-bet day for me.
Posted at 2140 BST on 08/09/24
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Only 44.1 overs were possible on a murky opening day of the third Test at the Oval, as England defied overhead conditions to put themselves in a strong position with the bat, closing on 221-3.
Ollie Pope was the star of the show, firing a back-to-form century as Sri Lanka wasted a golden opportunity with the ball, failing to hold length for any meaningful amount of time, and bowling both sides of the wicket.
That said, when you look past overhead conditions and the shocking nature of Sri Lanka's bowling performance, there were definite signs that this is a good pitch.
The bounce appeared largely true, and as ever here, the ball seemed to come onto the bat nicely, allowing Pope and Duckett to play plenty of shots with freedom, and get good value for those shots.
Sky Bet go 4/6 for England to pass 450 runs in the innings, but a similar forecast to Friday suggests Saturday will be another gloomy day, and the hosts have hardly been the epitome of ruthless this summer.
Remember, England only just scraped past 250 on a flat Lord's pitch in the second innings last week.
As for Sri Lanka, their innings runs line will be much lower, and that is likely to shorten further if their top order continues to find the going tough against the new ball.
If the sun were to come out, and a Sri Lankan middle order that has performed pretty well so far were left with a low line to beat, then might be the time to strike a speculative bet.
With rookie Josh Hull making his debut in this match, this is a very inexperienced England bowling attack, and Sri Lanka's middle order is certainly capable in the right conditions.
Posted at 2130 BST on 06/09/24
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