Sports Blog 08/06/2016: 3rd Test Preview – England vs Sri Lanka, Thursday 9th to Monday 13th June 2016

England head to Lords’ this week for the third and final test against the Sri Lankan tourists.

After two straightforward victories in the series so far, Alastair Cook’s men will be confident of securing a 3-0 series whitewash and continuing their charge to the top of the test world rankings. Our traders fancy that England will complete the job in style, quoting them at 69.2-75 on the match binary market, a fixed odds price of 1/3. They are pitched at 19.4-20.9 on the 25:10, with the Sri Lankans a lowly 3-4.5.

After reaching 10,000 test runs in the second test, Captain Alastair Cook should feel that slight weight off his shoulders at the home of cricket. It would certainly come as no surprise if Cook were to finish off the series in style, and our traders are confident he will score heavily, with his runs pitched at 88-95. Cook ton ups are available at 17-20, and he is the 3/1 second favourite to top score in England’s first innings. We are also offering Super Mega runs quotes on this test match, with Cook quoted at 142-150 (runs in each innings between 1-50 count once, runs 50-100 count double, runs over 100 count treble e.g an innings of 112 counts as 50 x 1 + 50 x 2 + 12 x 3 = 186). Punters interested in Cook’s performance could also look to his player performance quote of 102-110 (1 pt per run, 10 pts per catch, 20 pts per wicket, 25 pts per stumping), particularly with England’s slip cordon in business with the lively swing bowling of newly-crowned world number one bowler James Anderson.



Newcomer to the side James Vince hasn’t yet stamped his authority of test match cricket, but a trip to Lords’ could be the inspiration he needs to make that first big score for England. Slotting into the batting order at number 5, Vince should find himself coming in against a weary bowling attack, an ideal opportunity to cement his place in the side ahead of the visit of Pakistan later this summer. Vince runs are quoted at just 59-66, perhaps a reflection on the possibility that he may only get one opportunity to bat, with the Sri Lankans posing little opposition so far. Vince ton ups are on offer at 6-9 for those who fancy him to make his first test century, while he is a 7/1 shot to top score for the hosts in their first innings. Vince Super Mega runs are pitched at 88-96 which could yield rich reward if he goes big.

The Sri Lankan openers really need to set their team a better platform than they have managed so far in this series. Dimuth Karunaratne has struggled for runs all series, and that is reflected in his runs quote of just 55-61 – a pretty low expectation for a supposedly accomplished batsman. Those expecting him to turn it around and get his name on the famous Lord’s honours board may be interested in his ton ups quote of 3-6, although there has been little evidence so far that he has a century in him against this attack. His partner Kaushal Silva has performed slightly better, with a battling half century at Durham to his name. His runs are quoted just 1 higher than Karunaratne’s at just 56-62, again showing how little faith our traders have in the tourists’ opening pair. Indeed, England are just 40/85 to win the highest opening partnership market, with the Sri Lankans 13/8 underdogs.

As mentioned above, James Anderson has risen to the top of the world test rankings for the first time in his career after his electric start to this English summer. It is just reward for one of England’s all-time greats, and there is no reason to think he won’t continue his success at Lord’s. With England having taken 20 wickets in both tests so far this series, Anderson’s bowler performance quote of 52-57 may well be of interest. His partner in crime Stuart Broad has also been on the money this series, and his bowler performance quote is pitched at 45-50. Between the two of them they should skittle this Sri Lankan batting lineup, with Chris Woakes (30-35) and Steve Finn (37-42) there to polish off the rest.



The Sri Lankan bowling attack has actually fared quite well, and at times has made real inroads into the English top order. Seamers Suranga Lakmal (29-34) and Nuwan Pradeep (27-32) have both got it in them to trouble England, particularly with a bit of pressure starting to mount on certain players in the top order. Nick Compton has been poor in the number 3 spot, with the first wicket often leading to a quick second with the new ball. Spinner Rangana Herath is the most experienced bowler in the visitors’ attack, but too often this series he has been bowling without any runs to play with, forced into a defensive role. Nevertheless he undoubtedly carries the biggest threat to England, reflected in his higher bowler performance quote of 33-38.

The weather is set fair for Lord’s, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t see full days play throughout the test. With this in mind our traders have pitched match ton ups at 90-98, with England ton ups 65-70 and Sri Lanka ton ups 23-28. With the added prestige of a place on the Lord’s honours board for anyone making a century at the home of cricket you can rest assured that the batsmen will be even more determined than usual to register three figures. Our new market ‘Launch!’ is once again in play in this test match, where the highest individual score of any batsmen in the match is multiplied by number of runs scored in the highest scoring over of the match. The quote for this test match is 2150-2350, a lively proposition for sure!

So with the weather set fair and Lord’s looking resplendent everything is set for the 3rd test. With almost everyone expecting England to complete a routine series win the Sri Lankans have nothing to lose, and hopefully can put up more of a fight than previously this summer. Spreadex will have the widest range of in-running markets across both spreads and fixed odds throughout the test, so stick with us for all the action!

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