THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Saturday’s 3rd Test between PAKISTAN v ENGLAND with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s another busy weekend of Test cricket on BETDAQ Betting Exchange as we have the 3rd Test between Pakistan and England, while the Australia v South Africa Test series also starts – not to mention all the Big Bash action too! We’ve had two wonderful Test matches between Pakistan and England so far – the 1st Test was incredible viewing as England forced a result, and then the 2nd Test went to the wire with just 26 runs between the sides on a very tricky wicket. England are in the excellent position coming into this Test with the series already in the bag 2-0 up, but a whitewash in Pakistan would be an incredible achievement. Much to play for!
Mark Wood was the hero for England in the 2nd Test, and he remarked afterwards that he nearly quiet Test cricket to play white-ball-only cricket. He then mentioned what a good captain Ben Stokes was to play for. So far, I’ve only heard brilliant things about the captain and coach – but surely England will run into problems at some stage. Bazball is working at the moment; I wonder will we see any kickback – especially from the harsh UK media – if the tactics don’t work during the Ashes later in the year.
Pakistan will say that they have come close in both Tests, and that is true. They don’t need to hit any panic buttons – I think if they just keep playing their cricket they will be OK. A five Test series might have been interesting, especially more so if Pakistan win this one. Pakistan will know conditions in Karachi very well and I’m sure they have ordered another spinning wicket. They weren’t happy with the 1st Test, and we saw a dramatic change in conditions. England have all the confidence at the moment to deal with anything thrown at them, and I’m sure we’re in for another wonderful Test match.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Although we had such a long gap in International cricket in Pakistan since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka side, since cricket has returned Karachi has been well used. England actually played four T20’s here before winning the T20 World Cup in Australia. They will have a reasonably good idea of conditions stadium wise, but the wicket should be very different. For what it’s worth, those T20’s were very high scoring. We’ve had three Tests here since 2019, the last of which was Australia in March this year. That match finished with a draw – it was actually an incredible game. Australia posted 556/9 and then bowled Pakistan out for 148, but Pakistan managed to score 443/7 in the final innings to save the game. In 2021, Pakistan beat South Africa is a reasonably low scoring game with 378 all out the highest score. I would be surprised if we didn’t get a result, but runs should be there for the batters who “get in” as they say.
RECOMMENDED BET:
Based on everything we’ve saw so far during the series, you’d have to say that there isn’t much between the sides. It really only takes one big innings or an in-form bowler to give either side the edge. You’d also have to say that England have been playing with a lot of confidence though, and their batters are in superb form. I know there wasn’t much between the sides in the 2nd Test, but England still managed a win and I’m surprised to see them trading 2.68 here. I felt after winning the first two Tests that they would be favourites here, and I’m happy to back them again. We’ve landed the first two bets, and hopefully we can make it three from three!
The Edge Says:
Two points win England to beat Pakistan at 2.68 with Betdaq Exchange.
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/PakEng3
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
While you can never be too sure what conditions to expect in these situations, I would be surprised if the game actually ended with a draw. That’s not to say that we should ignore the draw price for the whole Test, because there could be some nice trades to be had. Pakistan clearly weren’t happy with the wicket in the 1st Test and then got a spinning wicket in the 2nd. I would definitely worry about that happening again, but looking at the history of this ground would suggest once batters get in that they can do very well. I’d just want to confirm the wicket isn’t very difficult first before going into the game with that view. I’d be happy to back England whenever they bat if the wicket is OK, but I would suggest the team who bats first might offer the best trade here whatever conditions – if the wicket is good they can pile on the runs looking at the ground data and if it’s tricky like the 2nd Test then they get first use of it.
