ENGLAND V SOUTH AFRICA: The Edge previews the 3rd ODI between England and South Africa from Southampton with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
England and South Africa face off again in the 3rd ODI on Betdaq Betting Exchange this weekend as the sides move to Southampton. Unfortunately for England, the series is already gone as South Africa took a 2-0 lead at Lord’s on Thursday evening. England were absolutely blown away in the opening ODI, collapsing for 131 but they did bat much better on Thursday. The problem was the bowling – they conceded 330/8 and came up just short chasing as they finished on 325/9. England have faced a huge amount of criticism in the ODI format recently, so while the series is gone, losing 2-1 is a very difficult headline to a 3-0 whitewash.
Obviously the ECB effectively turning their domestic 50 over competition into a second tier option alongside the Hundred has been an easy target given England’s recent woes in 50 over cricket. They needed a response from the batters after the opening embarrassment and while they did get one, no one went past 61 and played a match winning ODI knock in the chase. They lost a wicket first ball, and Den Duckett only managed 14 runs too – they need a better start at the top of the order given the middle-to-late order look under pressure. Possibly the biggest positive for England was a 50 from Jacob Bethell who was woefully out of form at The Hundred.
England will say that they won’t change anything and they’ll bounce back with Bazball. It does feel like they need to switch on to ODI cricket though! From a South African point of view, they basically haven’t done much wrong – they will be aiming for more of the same to be honest and continue their excellent run. They just beat Australia in an ODI series, now they’ve added England.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We’ve an early start at Southampton, with things kicking off at 11am at the Rose Bowl. That could definitely bring some early movement, the forecast on Sunday is for a hot and cloudy day. I actually feel it will be an edge to bowl first looking at the weather. We haven’t had much ODI action here recently. In Covid times, Ireland played three ODI’s here in 2020. Since then there’s only been one ODI – England played New Zealand in early September in 2023 and it was reduced to a 34 over game. We don’t have much ground data on what a par score would be here, so I’d keep an open mind.
RECOMMENDED BET:
England are once again the favourites coming into this game. I’m not surprising by that given they started the series as the 1.69 favourites, then went out to 1.75 for the 2nd ODI but I am surprised to see them trading at their shortest price of the series here at 1.66. I know there’s an element of the series is won for South Africa, and given all the negatives around the England ODI squad a win here is far more important to them compared to South Africa. However, all that considering, and even the chance South Africa will rest players too – I still feel South Africa are the value here at 2.46. We’ve landed two bets on South Africa this series – I’m happy with a small position to finish off the series!
The Edge Says:
One point win South Africa to beat England at 2.46 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/3EngSou
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
Obviously it’s important to go into this game with an open mind on scoring given the lack of recent ODI’s here. However, with the early start and weather forecast, I do feel it’ll be a slight edge to bowl first. I feel the toughest part of the game to bat will be early – possibly for the first hour or so – and that might be key. I’d be happy to support the bowling side first, and then see how the game develops from there.
