ENGLAND V SOUTH AFRICA: The Edge previews the 1st ODI between England and South Africa from Headingley with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
Straight off the back of the Hundred, England are back in action as they host South Africa. We have three ODI’s and three T20’s coming up over the next two weeks on Betdaq Betting Exchange before the England white ball team head over to Ireland. As they say, cricket never stops! In the franchise world of cricket, International games are struggling for meaning a little. That argument can easily be applied to these fixtures to be honest after the ICC scrapped the ODI World Cricket League for World Cup qualification. It’ll be very interesting to see the crowd levels for these games straight off the back of the Hundred.
England have a massive winter coming up, but that’s mainly in red-ball cricket given the Ashes will be the focus. This is the first time South Africa will be back in England since they won the World Test Championship Final – that was a pivotal moment for South Africa given they finally lost the tag of chokers in cricket. Now, this is the start of the road to the 2027 ODI World Cup which they host. It’ll be interesting to see how they approach this series – they have a tonne of excellent hitters so they could go toe-to-toe with Bazball.
South Africa recently hosted Australia for an ODI series which they won 2-1. They batted first twice and won by 98 and 84 runs. Then Australia racked up 431/2 and hammered them in the 3rd ODI. Obviously in September in England, conditions might be tricky at times under clouds but we should have an entertaining series ahead.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We start the tour at Headingley, usually an excellent atmosphere. This was a ground for the Hundred, so again it’ll be interesting to see the crowds. We haven’t had many ODI’s here in recent years. South Africa played here in 2022 but we didn’t have a result with the weather, and then Australia played in 2024. Australia were bowled out for 270 but still won by 68 runs. It’s hard to compare the scores here to the Hundred obviously, but in general the scoring was quite high – two games close to 200 but obviously we do have some very good wickets here at the moment. I would keep an open mind on scoring – I’d bat first though.
RECOMMENDED BET:
England come into the game as the favourites at 1.69 and you can get 2.4 on South Africa. It’ll be interesting to see how this series plays out, but I don’t see a massive amount between the sides to be honest. Sonny Baker is on debut for England, and Jacob Bethell – who will become England’s youngest captain in Ireland later in September – was in woeful form in the Hundred. England will need runs from the evergreen Joe Root, but I do feel South Africa have enough in their locker to go toe-to-toe with England here. I’d have a very even market, and I’m happy with a small bet on South Africa from a value point of view.
The Edge Says:
One point win South Africa to beat England at 2.4 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/1EngSou
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
I do feel the best in-running advice here is to keep an open mind. We don’t have a lot of ODI data in recent years; obviously Australia defended 270 quite easily last year but as I said scoring was quite high in the Hundred – for what that is worth. I would give a slight edge to the side who bats first. I’d want to take on the England lower order though; whichever innings they bat.
