England v India ODI : Latest cricket odds as punters eye Alistair Cook in top batsman market
Its the second ODI as England face India as Paddy Power announce the latest cricket odds with Alistair Cook taking all the money for top series batsman, the firm reports.
England will be looking to continue that winning feeling in the second one-day international against India, having taken a surprise 1-0 lead following a hard fought victory in the first match.
England’s nine-run win was their first ODI victory in India since 2006, but many purists will be well aware that even in 2006 the visitors went onto lose 5-1, and have followed up that tour with back-to-back 5-0 defeats in 2008 and 2011.
However, this seems a different England side in this format. Confidence is high and perhaps most crucially, their batsmen are in great form. India will feel slightly aggrieved to have got so close to victory in the first match though, as the wicket of skipper MS Dhoni came at a crucial time when he was really starting to put England to the sword.
India v England Odds : Paddy Power In Running Bet
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That is factored into the win market for the second game with India favourites to draw the series at 1-1. Punters can get 8/11 with Paddy Power on India improving on their performance this time around, whilst England, who have been popular with the patriotic punters, available to be backed at 11/10 with the same firm.
That price does seem a little short though in our book. There really wasn’t much between the sides in the first game and England still don’t convince as a side that can put a winning run together against a side of the quality as India in this format. If India have the brains to move Dhoni up the order, that will surely tip the favour in their direction.
He is in top form at the moment and doesn’t look fazed by the powder-puff England seaming attack. Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and Jade Dernbach all took important wickets in the first match but were quite wayward with some of their bowling, which didn’t go unnoticed in these parts.
India will be very confident of scoring off those 30 overs and could post a total that England may struggle to catch. For that reason, India certainly look the value at 8/11 with Dhoni possibly the difference between the sides. He can be backed at 12/1 to be man of the match with Paddy Power.
Unsurprisingly, England’s best hope of taking a 2-0 lead lies with their batsmen. The top-order seem to have finally adapted to the flat wickets in India and have been swinging with real venom in the last six meeting with the Indians.
All of the order seem more than capable of handling anything thrown at them, with Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen in the form of their lives, Ian Bell now in touch and even Craig Kieswetter and Samit Patel looking comfortable. With the increase in form, the betting markets have been alive with interest about which player will top score for England in Kochi.
Alistair Cook heads the betting at 3/1 with Ladbrokes following his wonderfully played 75 in the first game, and he rates as a strong market leader. Remember, Cook scored the most runs (562) for England in the recent four-match Test series.
However, there could be some value down the list with Kevin Pietersen top scoring around the 7/2 mark. The big-hitting character has been pushed up the order to number three in the last couple of years and seems to flourish in that position.
On his day he is England’s best one-day batsmen, and from a betting view, he rates as a sound wager with the likelihood of him getting a lot of time at the crease. He made 44 in Rajkot last time out but stupidly threw away his wicket when seemingly looking in control and potentially building a big score.
