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Cricket in-play betting tips: India v England third Test latest odds and advice
Richard Mann previews the third day of the second Test in Rajkot, where England are currently in the process of mounting an impressive fightback.
Ben Duckett took centre stage on a gripping second day of the third Test in Rajkot, racing to a remarkable, unbeaten 133 at the close of play to bring England back into a match that appeared to be slipping from their grasp just a few hours earlier.
Having began the morning session by making two early breakthroughs with the ball, a spate of dropped catches from England allowed India post an imposing first innings total of 445. Within just 35 overs, Duckett had reduced that deficit to 238 as the tourists finished the day on 207-2.
It means the match and series – which is currently squared at 1-1 – are perfectly poised ahead of day three, with England firmly on the front foot, but India well aware they still hold a big lead and have the advantage of bowling last on a wicket that is expected to deteriorate on days four and five.
The betting still favours India, who are hovering around the even-money mark, with England now 2/1 following their typically brazen efforts with the bat. England have already traded as big as 10.5 on the Exchange to win the match, once again demonstrating just how good ‘Bazball’ has been for those wanting to trade the match odds. Don’t rule out more big swings in the coming days.
What we’ve seen so many times in this series already is that things can happen very quickly with Ben Stokes’ England, be it the run-rate or wickets falling in clusters. But what is not in doubt for now is that this remains a very good surface for batting, and England really ought to bat big and long if they can keep Jasprit Bumrah quiet.
They might need to bat through the whole day to engineer a position of real strength, but the opportunity is there and we saw again on day two how England’s fast scoring has been able to put the likes of Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja under levels of pressure they have rarely felt before, in turn meaning captain Rohit Sharma has been forced to retreat and set defensive fields that reduce the number of close catchers he can have around the bat.
Tomorrow is a huge day, and it's probably not overstating things to suggest it could go a long way to deciding the outcome of the series itself. If England bat well and win the day, Stokes’ Bazball Boys could become an even more unstoppable force.
England’s middle order, namely Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, will need to put their hands up after barely contributing in India so far, but again, they might not get a better chance. For Bairstow, he might be running out of chances full stop, with the absent Harry Brook sure to return at some stage, be it on this tour or in the near future.
Root will come good before long, but Bumrah currently has him on toast, so Duckett might need to take as much of his initial burst as possible in the morning. But from there I don’t see too many demons in this pitch just yet. Ashwin bowled well on the second evening, though more through guile and flight than big spin and bite from the surface. The other spinners on both sides were largely innocuous.
Sky Bet have dangled the carrot by offering 2/1 for England to post 500 or more runs in the first innings, something that will be achieved if they do bat for the whole day, and I was very close to putting that forward as a recommended bet.
But as stated earlier, this series has rarely gone to script, with batting collapses and changing fortunes a microcosm of the cricket we have seen. Having already advised backing England to win the series at 11/2 before the third Test, I don’t want to invest further in a bet that essentially leads to the same outcome. I might live to regret that, but for now, I’m happy enough with my current levels of outlay.
Preview published at 1325 GMT on 16/02/24
Day two betting update
2pts Kuldeep Yadav top India first innings bowler at 4/1 (General)
England endured a frustrating opening day of the third Test with India in Rajkot, the hosts recovering from 33-3 to close on 326-5 thanks to impressive hundreds from Rohit Sharma and Ravi Jadeja.
Jadeja will resume in the morning unbeaten on 110, and with the left-hander already in the book at 8/1 for top Indian first innings batsman, we must hope he can pick up where he left off against an England attack that toiled hard on day one but lacked the cutting edge – Mark Wood apart – to make their early advantage count.
Handing Rohit a couple of lives before he reached fifty came back to haunt England, but they have a new ball to work with when play resumes and if they can somehow restrict India to somewhere in the region of 425, they won’t be out of the Test match.
The ball nipped around early on for the seamers and there was turn for the slow bowlers, but essentially, this looks like a very good pitch for batting and it will be interesting to see how much reverse swing Jasprit Bumrah can find. There wasn’t a great deal on offer for Wood and James Anderson, but Bumrah is the modern master.
Another takeaway from the first day’s play was that while finger spin proved innocuous for lengthy periods, Rehan Ahmed looked England’s most threatening bowler after the new ball had lost its shine and become soft.
Rehan got plenty of spin from the pitch even on day one and crucially, managed to get the ball to bounce from a good length, regularly surprising Rohit and wrapping him on his gloves. Rehan went past Rohit’s outside edge on a number of occasions, too, and I suspect wrist-spin will play a big part as this match evolves.
That ability to extract extra bounce from an essentially docile surface might just set the likes of Rehan and KULDEEP YADAV apart, and I want to be with India’s wrist-spinner when it’s England’s turn to bat.
Kuldeep was outstanding when recalled for the second Test, picking up three wickets in the first innings and for a long time looking likely to give Bumrah a run for his money. Back in the Test side following an impressive run in the limited-overs formats, I expect Kuldeep to remain a big threat for the remainder of the series.
Of course, Bumrah looms a big danger again, as do Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja, but Kuldeep looks to have conditions to suit, and a record in his short Test career that suggests he could not be underestimated. In nine Tests, Kuldeep has 38 wickets at an average of 22.73. His strike-rate is 38.7. Albeit with a much bigger sample size, Ashwin’s strike-rate is 51.5, Bumrah 44.5.
Bookmakers are taking no chances with Bumrah and Aswhin, and with plenty of 4/1 kicking around, we’ll take Kuldeep to do the business on a surface that might just be tailor-made for the left-arm wrist-spinner.
Preview published at 1350 GMT on 15/02/24
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