England v New Zealand 3rd Test
The third and final Test between England and New Zealand starts at Trent Bridge on Thursday and the hosts start as firm favourites. Punters on Betfair can back England to win at 1.76, with New Zealand available at 6.2 and 3.6 the draw.
England certainly appear to have the momentum after the amazing turnaround in the second Test, when they overcame a 170 first innings deficit to win in style on the fourth day.
The home side touched 17.5 during that clash at Old Trafford, so punters should be alert to the value offered by Betfair’s in-play markets, especially as these inconsistent teams regularly veer between being good and bad in the same match.
The five recent meetings between these two have produced three England wins, one for New Zealand and one rain-affected draw. Michael Vaughan’s men were not convincing in any of those victories and punters following the Black Caps will be relieved to see them back in their underdog role, as they looked uncomfortable front-runners at Manchester.
England have lost their last two Tests at Trent Bridge in relatively low-scoring encounters and the wicket continues to offer assistance to the bowlers. This will suit the Black Caps, as England’s batsmen – apart from Andrew Strauss – have looked all at sea against the tourists’ attack when conditions are favourable.
The Kiwis also have more batsmen in good form than England do, with Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram all profiting from England’s often wayward attack.
Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Tim Ambrose have all had limited time in the middle and punters might find value in selecting the Black Caps batsmen in Betfair’s wide range of batting markets.
England are always expected to come out on top in every clash between these two sides, but this Test series has been closely-fought and characterised by bad sessions for both teams. We could be in store for another rollercoaster encounter, so punters should be ready to change position as the action unfolds at Trent Bridge.
New Zealand v England, 3rd Test
The crucial third test begins on Friday night against New Zealand, with England looking for a complete reversal in fortunes to win the series.
Tim Ambrose was the hero of the second test, with the top six batsmen disappointing yet again. He could be worth backing to be England’s top scorer at 12/1 with totesport, whilst Kevin Pietersen may be worth a small bet at 8/1 with Ladbrokes.
You can get England at 2/1 with SportingBet, but I’d actually go for New Zealand at 9/2 (also with SportingBet) on the basis that England’s second test victory was an anomaly when you look at recent performances, and their record in Winter Series is pretty awful!
This week on The Betting Blog
Firstly apologies for the lack of updates recently - but with the recent spate of sporting upsets, it’s probably a good thing we weren’t backing the likes of Chelsea in the FA Cup.
It’s a big week in the world of sports betting with the Cheltenham Festival taking place. The Don will be offering his advice on where to put your money, whilst we will also give you a run down of betting on the cricket in New Zealand, this week’s UEFA Cup action and, of course, the finale to the Six Nations on Saturday.
So stay tuned to The Betting Blog now that we are back in business and let’s put the bookies through the wringer at the Cheltenham races.
The Weekends Rugby
2 out of 3 games called correctly by the Don a whopping 25-1 first tryscorer bet on Wallace in the Ireland game. A guiness toast to him for that one.
Unfortunately the Italians socring the first try scuppered big profits in the first tryscorer bets in the Wales game but regular backers of Shane Williams still collected on the e/w bet. Handicap came in comfortable. Spread betters again will have taken the bookies to the cleaners on that one.
Englands performance (or was it lack of a French performance?) was a surprise meaning not much to shout about in that game.
All round a very profitable week. Sale and Bristol came up trumps, as did Leeds Rhinos. Gloucester were the biggest disapointment.
Watch out for this weekends tips later in the week. If you want a bit of interest in the Cricket, back Kevin Pietersen to be Englands top run scorer and Matthew Hoggard to be top wicket taker. Have singles and a cheeky double. I fancy England to take the series as well so this could be worth a little go.
Will Phil cut the Mustard against New Zealand in the Twenty20?
England destroyed New Zealand in the first Twenty20 match on Tuesday, which won’t have gone down at all well with the proud Kiwis.
They’ll be looking for revenge before the One Day series begins at the weekend, and look to be good value at 6/4 with totesport and Boylesports.
England has never won back to back Twenty20 internationals against a major nation, so aren’t really worth backing, even at 3/5 (Sporting Bet).
Wicket-keeper Phil Mustard is looking to cement his place for the rest of the tour, and given that he’ll open the batting, I’m backing him for top scorer at 6/1 with Paddy Power and Sky Bet.
Finally, Daniel Flynn is worth a punt as New Zealand’s top scorer at 7/1 with Coral - he scored 149 for his district side this morning.
The game is live on Sky Sports at 6am on Thursday morning. By the way, please forgive the pun but it was too obvious to omit!
Welcome to The Betting Blog
This is a brand new blog about sports betting, brought to you by seasoned betting experts, with resident tipsters sharing their views on upcoming sports events, and where you can find the best odds.
Key sports that will be covered include football, rugby, cricket, golf, tennis and anything else we are interested in - you won’t find much about horse racing, since we know very little about it!
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