Sports Blog 11/02/2016: Cricket Preview – South Africa v England 4th ODI, Friday 12th February 2016

South Africa are right back in the series after their comprehensive victory in the 3rd ODI, now just 2-1 down with 2 to play.

They will be desperate to level it up at 2-2 and take the series to a decider at fortress Newlands on Valentine’s Day. England for their part will hope that Tuesday’s defeat was just a blip in their development as a limited overs side, and will be determined to seal a series win with victory here. South Africa go into the match as favourites, quoted at 54.5-60 on the binary (4/6 fixed odds), with England underdogs quoted at 40-45.5 (6/5). South Africa are quoted at 3-13 over England in the match supremacy market, and once again we can expect a tough battle between these well-matched sides.

The host’s top order batsmen really stepped up to the plate on Tuesday, with opening pair Hashim Amla and Quentin de Kock putting on a record-breaking stand of 239. Amla is priced up as the 3/1 joint-favourite to top score for South Africa, with his player performance pitched at 51-56 (based on 1pt per run, 10pts per catch, 20pts per wicket, 25pts per stumping). De Kock is only slightly bigger at 10/3 to top score for the Proteas, but with his wicket-keeping prowess thrown into the mix his player performance quote is significantly higher at 61-66. For punters who fancy more century heroics from this pair Ton Ups are quoted at 28-33, with South Africa Ton Ups available at 15-18.

England’s top order have also fired in this series so far with both Alex Hales and Jason Roy contributing well at the head of the innings. Hales is chalked up at 10/3 to top score for the tourists with his player performance on offer at 43-48. Roy for his part is a shade bigger at 7/2 to top score, with his player performance quote just one lower at 42-47. With these two bangers opening up for England it is no surprise to see England slightly favoured in the 1st 15 Overs supremacy market, with the tourists quoted at 0-3 over the Proteas.



With so many aggressive batsmen across the two sides our traders have pitched match sixes at 16-17, significantly higher than an average quote for an ODI. The Joy of Six markets, where 3 players are selected from each team and are awarded 25pts per 6 hit, may be a more interesting play. For the South Africans we have de Kock, Faf du Plessis and of course AB de Villiers, with their combined price being 92-100. The England trio consists of Roy, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler, with their price being ever so slightly higher at 94-102. England are marginally favoured to hit more 6s, with them being quoted as 0-3 favourites over South Africa in the 10-3 Sixes match bet (10pts for hitting the most 6s, 3pts per 6 won by).

With all these explosive batsmen on display it could be another long day for the bowling attacks. England’s inexperienced bowlers were put to the sword on Tuesday and will look to bounce back here. Essex quick Reece Topley has been impressive at times during the series, with his left-arm angle adding a new dimension to England’s attack. Topley’s player performance quote is pitched at 29-33, perhaps surprisingly the lowest quote of any player in this match. England’s other seamers David Willey (35-40) and Stuart Broad (35-40) are expected to perform slightly better, although clearly they are more likely to contribute valuable lower order runs.

The South African seamers have been flayed to all parts in the series so far. Our traders expect them to bounce back here though, with youngster Kagiso Rabada expected to lead the charge. Rabada player performance is quoted at 42-47, with Morne Morkel (35-40) and Kyle Abbott (35-40) expected to provide valuable support. If the bowling of both sides falters the match wides market may well be of interest, with wides quoted at 15-16. Multi-wides (one team wides multiplied by the other team’s wides) are pitched at 57-64, offering a slightly more volatile way of taking a view on any erratic bowling!

So it’s all set for another exciting clash in the Rainbow Nation. The neutrals may well hope South Africa can level the series 2-2, thus creating a winner takes all decider in Cape Town this weekend. Eoin Morgan and his men certainly aren’t interested in that though, and the sooner they put the series to bed the better from their point of view. The toss is at 11am and as ever Spreadex will have the most comprehensive spread and fixed odds service throughout the game, so join us then for the latest instalment of this fantastic series.

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