ENGLAND v PAKISTAN: Our new cricket tipster The Edge previews the 2nd Test between ENGLAND v PAKISTAN on Thursday with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
The Edge has been a professional cricket trader for over 12 years, and we are delighted to have his columns on BETDAQ Tips. He provides his best bets on a points scale between 1 and 5, with 5 being a rare max bet.
Because we see so much action in-running on cricket, he will also provide some in-running strategies that could develop in-play and lead to some excellent value bets. The Edge covers all forms of cricket: Test Matches, ODI’s and T20’s but his favourite competition is the Indian Premier League each season.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
England and Pakistan move to Southampton for the 2nd Test on Thursday and hopefully it’s as good as the first! We had some fantastic Test matches at Old Trafford where the pitch was absolutely excellent for Test cricket. If you got in, it had runs but there was always something for the bowlers too. Proper cricket.
Pakistan would have been devastated not to win the 1st Test. They hit around 1.15 in-running when they had England 117/5 chasing 277 on a turning pitch. Woakes and Buttler put together an excellent partnership but Pakistan gave them a few early boundaries with the field settings so attacking. You have to admire Jos Buttler though; he was under immense pressure and ha comes out in that situation and counter attacks, incredible. It was one of those pitches that you had to play like that though because there was always going to be that “ball with your name on it” eventually.
There’s a lot going on with England behind the scenes at the moment. Archer was down on pace and one wonders what type of injury he is carrying. Stokes will miss the rest of the series due to family reasons, and we’ve had rumours of Anderson retiring! He may not have been the star in the 1st Test, but he was in excellent from against the West Indies. Conditions in Southampton might suit him better.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
It’s fair to say that the weather isn’t set fair for this one. Although an accurate description is “miss and hit” with the rain forecast. You can’t rely on thunderstorms and as we seen in the first Test, the way both sides play it will take a lot of time lost due to rain. I’m sure we will lose some time though, however we only needed four days at Old Trafford. Looking at the long-range forecast, and we only have that at the time of writing, it looks like we can expect a shower or a thunderstorm at different times during the Test but in general we shouldn’t be losing much time.
Keep an eye on that forecast because it can easily change and again, you can’t rely on thunderstorms. They are very hit and miss. Having said that, such is the weather in England at the moment we might not see any rain during the Test.
The weather has been excellent recently and you’d have to expect the pitch to offer some spin towards the end again. I’m not sure England would like a wicket like Old Trafford against this Pakistan side, and surely they will be asking for a wicket with more pace in it. Given the hot weather though, we should see a good wicket for batting.
RECOMMENDED BET:
You make your own luck over the course of five days in Test cricket, however it’s reasonable for anyone to think England were lucky to win in the 1st Test. Pakistan had the Test in their grip. I backed England in the 1st Test as I thought Pakistan would improve for the time in the middle and I stand by that view given their second innings. Losing from there was a bigger disappointment for them than when they had England 117/5. England should have been chasing closer to 350. Archer doesn’t look 100% to me, and losing Stokes is an obvious huge blow.
I think there’s a lot against England for this Test and I like the England lay at 2.02 on BETDAQ, however I’m going to back Pakistan instead because the draw looks very short again at 3.5. Stokes wasn’t supposed to bowl in the 1st Test but he was needed, and delivered. He will be a huge loss and the top order for England continue to struggle. I think Pakistan can out-bowl England and although they are unreliable with the bat some of their players looked in good touch last week.
England look short, but there’s no point laying them when I feel the draw is massively short. I’m going to recommended a Pakistan back at 4.3, and also a draw lay IF it hits sub 2.5 on day 1. We seen a draw crash for good early batting in the first Test and if the same happens here I would be all over the draw lay.
The Edge says:
Two points win Pakistan to beat England at 4.3 with BETDAQ Exchange.
Four points lay (liability) Draw at 2.5 with BETDAQ Exchange IF it hits that price anytime on Day 1.
View the market -> https://bit.ly/BDQEngPak2nd
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
With the long range forecast saying a 50% chance of rain each day, there’s bound to be draw trading opportunities, or laying opportunities should I say. We could get a very good value draw lay at some stage early on. In the 1st Test the draw was matched at a low of 3.1 even though the pitch was offering a lot and the weather was set fair. Pakistan batted well first up and draw backers were on the charge – we could see a similar situation here. If the forecast didn’t get any worse of cleared up, I would be all over the draw lay at sub 2.5 on Day 1 as mentioned above.
Thunderstorms present another excellent trading opportunity. With high temperatures and times of clouds, there’s definitely going to be some excellent trades on the bowling side. Of course we’ll have to just wait and see how that situation develops in-play but there’s definitely going to be some very tough batting times. Keep an eye out for that when trading.
I really liked the way Pakistan bowled in the 1st Test and with England not exactly bomb proof when batting we could easily see another very low score from them. The same can be said about Pakistan as we seen in their second innings. We seen some huge swings in-running in the 1st Test, and we can expect the same here. As a starting point, England look very low at 2.02 but this is countered by the draw being so low at 3.5 also. Pakistan hit 1.15 in the first Test, and it seems reasonable to think they will trade lower than their SP at some point. These two teams gel together to make an excellent Test in my opinion, and we should see plenty of swings in the market.
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