THE EDGE: The Edge previews the 2nd ODI between WEST INDIES v ENGLAND with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
England’s latest “new-era” got off to a terrible start on Sunday when West Indies shocked them winning the 1st ODI! The sides stay at North South for the 2nd ODI on Wednesday, and England desperately need a bounce back win. They still come into the game as the heavy odds on favourites on BETDAQ Betting Exchange, but the market has lost a bit of confidence after seeing how they bowled on Sunday. England head into this game trading 1.45 whereas they were around 1.32 to win on Sunday.
Jos Buttler, backed to the hilt by England management, couldn’t have had a worse start after the shocking World Cup they had. He recorded just three runs off 13 balls – the lowest score of the England innings which ended on 325 all out. That was still a massive score by West Indies standard; we have got used to seeing low and slow wickets all over the West Indies in recent years. England were massive favourites to defend that, but they got off to a terrible start. The openers had 100 runs on the board before they lost a wicket, and then a brilliant 100 from Shai Hope who finished not out brought West Indies home with seven balls to spare. The white-ball reboot, as England called it, hasn’t started yet!
Buttler looked defeated after the game as he tried to defend his side. He had a point; they did bat well, he didn’t. You should be defending that score in the West Indies however, but it must be noted Buttler is without so many of his star players. This is definitely a new look England, but when West Indies had momentum there seemed nobody to step up and stop them with the ball. Buttler needs a score, for his own sake as well as the teams, as we head into this game. England desperately need some confidence.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
As I noted above, we don’t usually see scores of 325 chased in the West Indies. We have had some very low and slow wickets in the West Indies in recent years, and we sort of had that at the weekend. There was spin, and bounce but scores ended up being very high! We are still at the same venue for the 2nd ODI, so conditions shouldn’t change too much. Be aware that we might use the same wicket though, so we could have a used wicket situation and that will bring down the scores, possibly see more spin too. West Indies might have asked for good wickets for the England tour as well; an England tour brings a huge amount of money to the West Indies and that has to be a factor.
RECOMMENDED BET:
I was confident on an England win in the 1st ODI, and that went badly wrong. I genuinely believed this would be a fresh start after the break; some new faces would come in and spice things up. However, they were really lacking with the ball. As I said above, no one was willing/could step up and break the West Indies momentum in the second innings. That’s a huge negative for England, and something Buttler will need to fix if this side is going to have success. England have been pushed out in the betting, but I thought they would have went out further. I feel West Indies at 3.05 is worth a small bet given the poor England bowling.
The Edge Says:
One point win West Indies to beat England at 3.05 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/2WesEng
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
This wicket could easily turn sideways – you wouldn’t have said over 300 was even close to a par score looking at the spin and bounce; you probably would have taken 250 looking at some balls! I would definitely go into this game with an open mind on conditions – it’s actually very hard to know what a par score is. As I said above, at the innings break you thought the game was done with that massive score. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more spin and a much lower score – but at the same time the bat definitely won over the ball because the bowling standard was quite poor at times. Buttler looks low on confidence and his mind is elsewhere; he could be worth taking on again as he looks to find his form.
