THE EDGE: The Edge previews the 2nd Test between PAKISTAN v ENGLAND with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Pakistan v England 2nd Test
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s a quick turnaround for Pakistan and England as the 2nd Test begins on BETDAQ Betting Exchange just four days after the 1st Test finished. It’s a positive that the sides don’t have to move with the first two Tests at Multan – a reflection of the issues Pakistan have had getting wickets ready for this series. We saw those issues in the 1st Test with an incredibly flat wicket produced – I did speak about that in my preview of the 1st Test; when grounds have to rush to get a wicket ready, you either get something like a ranging turner or one like we actually got in the 1st Test. The draw looked nailed on when Pakistan were batting first to post 556 but is a Test ever safe when England are involved?
An incredible 823/7 and declaring at the right time gave England a win from nowhere really. It’s been a criticism, and rightly so in my opinion, that this England side have played too loosely in the past when they have got in. That wasn’t the case this time as Harry Brook scored 317 and Joe Root scored 262 – absolutely incredible innings, even allowing for the flat wicket. With Pakistan in the field in baking hot heat for 150 overs, it was classic Test cricket when England declared and Pakistan folded with their heads gone. It will be very interesting to see what the wicket does here – there were signs of it breaking up. England could also welcome back their captain and main man Ben Stokes too; as if Pakistan needed any more bad news!
After a very positive start for Pakistan, it was another blow off the back of what has been a poor year so far. Confidence is low, the bowlers looked hopeless at times even allowing for the conditions and it didn’t take much for their morale to drop. A fast England start here could easily see the heads go down for the hosts in what should be another fascinating Test match.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
It’s reasonably rare to have back-to-back Tests at the same venue, but it did become the norm for a while during Covid19. While we all know what to expect from conditions here after watching the 1st Test, I wouldn’t go into the game expecting such high scores again. We did see the wicket breaking up a little as the game went on, and they would have had more time to prepare this wicket so there might actually be more in it for the bowlers. That being said, you wouldn’t want to favour the bowlers here to begin with!
RECOMMENDED BET:
The big change in the odds here from the 1st Test is Pakistan are out. They were 2.6 for the 1st Test, now they are 3.6. The draw is obviously a little shorter – that’s 3.85 while it was 5.6 for the 1st Test. As you would expect, England are favourites again; this time 2.12 from 2.26 for the 1st Test. After seeing the opening overs of the 1st Test, it paid to keep the draw on our side or indeed open a draw trade. We landed our bet on England in the long run but I was happy with keeping stakes low before the off given conditions. To be honest, I didn’t see anything that would make me change tactics for this Test, and from an outright point of view I’m happy with a small bet on England again.
The Edge Says:
Two points win England to beat Pakistan at 2.12 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/2PakEng
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
You’d have to expect the market to revolve around the draw early on here – especially given how flat the wicket was in the 1st Test. England won that Test with pure pressure, and just incredibly paced batting too. While Pakistan have the ability to score big again, I wouldn’t trust them here – they had a tough loss and this Test backs up very quickly. I feel the best in-running trade will be going against Pakistan when England bat to have England and the draw on our side. The Pakistan bowling looked quite poor, and I’m happy to be against them. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of swings in-running; another reminder if you needed one to not get married to a position! England always make Test cricket interesting!
