Sports Blog 04/09/2015: Cricket Preview – England vs Australia 2nd ODI, Saturday 5th September 2015

The 2nd ODI of the series takes place at Lord’s on Saturday, with Australia 1-0 up after a composed victory at Southampton.

New captain Steve Smith led his men to a 59 run victory, comfortably defending their total of 305. Eoin Morgan, England’s ODI captain but not involved in the Ashes victory, will be looking for a response from his team at the home of cricket. Our traders make Australia favourites to press home their advantage with a Supremacy quote of Australia over England 11-21 on offer.



With England deciding to rest Joe Root for this series, several other batsmen need to step up to the plate. Jason Roy impressed with a lively 67 at the Ageus Bowl, and will once again open the innings with Alex Hales. The pair got England off to a bit of a flyer on Thursday, and no doubt will adopt similarly aggressive tactics at Lord’s. Roy Player Performance is quoted at 34-39, with his opening partner pitched at 38-43. Hales is England’s 7/2 favourite to top score, with Roy priced only fractionally bigger at 4/1. For punters with a view on whether England will once again get off to a flying start England are priced up at 10/11 to outscore Australia in the highest first 15 overs market.

In the middle order, captain Morgan could certainly do with a strong showing. Morgan fidgeted his way to 38 on Thursday evening, but never looked convincing and was lucky to survive as long as he did. On his day Morgan is arguably England’s most accomplished one day player, equipped with the full range of shots needed in this format. The skipper’s Player Performance is quoted at 39-44, and he is chalked up at 4/1 to top score for his side. Nottinghamshire’s James Taylor has been given another opportunity to cement a place in the side, and made a fairly fluent 49 before throwing it away at Southampton. The diminutive batsmen will be desperate to impress after several years in and out of the side. Taylor Player Performance is quoted at 36-41, and he’s another batsman on offer at 4/1 to top score for England.



For the Aussies dynamic opener David Warner will look to bring the fight to England. Warner was impressive in the 1st ODI, making 59 before losing concentration. Our traders price up his Player Performance at 45-50, showing just how important he is to this Aussie side. Warner is joint favourite alongside Steve Smith for top bat honours at 11/4. Warner’s new opening partner Joe Burns showed promise at Southampton before a tame dismissal at the hands of Adil Rashid. Those who fancy Burns to build on that promising start can avail themselves to a juicy 4/1 that he top scores for Australia, whilst his Player Performance quote is pitched at a relatively low 35-40.

Total 6s will again be a market of interest in this ODI. Total 6s and multi-sixes were a popular buy in the first ODI, with the prospect of short boundaries luring in plenty of buyers. With the big hitters on display from both teams our traders have chalked up total 6s at 8.5-9.25, with multi-sixes available at 19-23. England Joy of Six (25 pts per 6 hit by Hales, Morgan or Buttler) is priced up at 62-70, whilst the equivalent market for Australia (comprising Warner, Smith and Maxwell) is only slightly lower at 60-68. For those expecting a batsman to reach three figures Ton Ups are pitched at 16-19, with England Ton Ups 6-8 and Australia Ton Ups 9-11.

The Aussie quicks will look to continue where they left off on Thursday evening, when Cummins, Starc and Coulter-Nile were all among the wickets. Starc Player Performance is quoted at 41-46, with his pace partners Culter-Nile (35-40) and Cummins (36-41) expected to have only slightly less impact. For England Adil Rashid did the damage at Southampton with 4 wickets. Despite that excellent contribution our traders price Rashid up at just 33-38 for Lord’s, a tempting proposition given his ability with the bat.

The coin goes up for the toss at 10:30am tomorrow and with the weather set fair it should be a fantastic contest between the old rivals. As ever Spreadex will have a wide range of both spread and fixed odds markets in-play throughout the match, so join us for all the action!