THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Thursday’s 2nd T20 between Pakistan v England with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

We’re back in Karachi on Thursday for the 2nd T20 between Pakistan and England. Pakistan went into the 1st T20 as clear favourites on BETDAQ Betting Exchange but after a smooth England win the sides are a little closer together in the betting. Pakistan are still the clear favourites at 1.8 though, and to be honest I would have the odds much closer than that. There really isn’t much between the sides here – both sides are missing some key players and conditions are going to play a big part in the result too.

It was a dream return to England for Alex Hales in the 1st T20 as he scored 50 and lead the way as England chased down 158/7 from Pakistan. We haven’t had too much cricket here because of the issues with sides touring Pakistan, but we do know from the Pakistan Super League that around 160 is short of par. Pakistan are missing their star bowler too – and more worrying for them their middle order batted very poorly after they got off to a good start. The lost their first wicket after scoring 85 runs and then went from 85/0 to 158/7. That was terrible batting considering they lost the opening wicket after 9.3 overs. You have to give credit to the England bowlers of course, but that’s terrible batting.

For England they will want more of the same. They got to chase which is an advantage here, but from a player point of view they will be delighted. Alex Hales has a lot of history with England, a lot of it negative too, so for him to start with a 50 is very good. Harry Brook finished not out on 42 from 25 balls which is a fantastic confidence booster too. We all know Pakistan can do better; but can they cope with this young and exciting England side?

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

Although we did have a huge gap in cricket, we did know that the side batting first should have been aiming for 180+. To be fair, that looked to be what Pakistan were set for before their poor batting in the last ten overs. Chasing is also a massive edge here though, and it’s an absolute no brainer what to do at the toss. You simply must bowl, and we’ll likely see the market move based on the toss.

RECOMMENDED BET:

We landed a nice bet on England in the 1st T20, and I don’t see any reason not to back them again here. As I said above, Pakistan have drifted ten ticks in the market after losing on Tuesday, but I still feel that they should be bigger. I’d have the sides pretty much 50/50 here – that Pakistan middle order looks weak and low on confidence, while of course we have a lot of changes to the England middle order too. The difference is they got a confidence boosting win, and I can see them settling in well. Obviously the toss will have a big impact here with a massive advantage chasing, so keep stakes reasonably small before the toss but England at 2.2 is my call.

The Edge Says:
Two points win England to beat Pakistan at 2.2 with Betdaq Exchange.

View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/PakEng2

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

I fully expected a high scoring game on Tuesday, and it started out a high scoring game to be fair but then Pakistan threw it away in the second half of their innings. I still feel the best trade will be getting on the side chasing at the innings break, and I wouldn’t be afraid of chasing 180 here either if there is dew. We know chasing is an advantage. Given the good batting conditions and dew expected, I wouldn’t spend long looking for trades on the bowling side in either innings. The main play here though will be supporting that chasing side at the right time, hopefully it’s England as we’ll get more value on offer.