England’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh concludes on Tuesday morning, and Richard Mann is signing off with 33/1 and 12/1 selections.
Cricket tips: Bangladesh v England third T20I
1pt Sam Curran top England batsman at 12/1 (General)
0.5pts Chris Woakes top England batsman at 33/1 (Boylesports)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook
England bid to finish their white-ball tour of Bangladesh on a high on Tuesday morning, but having already lost the T20 series following defeats in each of the first two matches, don’t expect things to get any easier in the series finale.
In fact, for batsmen on both teams, more of the same could be in store, and that means big runs from either side appears unlikely.
The second ODI apart, runs have been hard to make and every one earned throughout this tour, with the general downward trend in scores indicating that the penny has well and truly dropped with the hosts.
Bangladesh won’t beat this England side in a dust-up on a flat pitch that lends itself to high scores, but slow, turning surfaces suit their army or spinners well, while their crafty middle-order can just about hold their own if the games are low-scoring and power hitting less important.
Bangladesh can’t match England in a high-scoring scenario, but they have restricted England to 156-6 and 117 all out in the last two matches – scores their batting unit was able to chase down relatively comfortably – and I would be staggered if conditions were any different, if not worse, on Tuesday.
That means betting unders on first innings runs is a must, should the par line be anything in the region of 150, and we mustn’t forget that England are a batsman light, with Will Jacks now back in England and no replacement called up.
Finally, the layers have caught on to the fact that Bangladesh are no pushovers at home, not even for England, and the 9/4 and 2/1 available about the home team for the first two matches has now disappeared, with the exchanges suggesting 7/4 might be the best we will get for the third match.
I’ll pass this time, particularly with England captain Jos Buttler surely due to win a toss sooner rather than later.
Instead, I want to have a stab at the top England batsman market, on the basis I’m still not convinced the current top order – with Buttler easing down a few spots to afford opportunities to others in these conditions – is that comfortable against high-class spin on turning pitches.
With all that in mind, and given how England have struggled with the bat in the last few matches, betting the middle/lower order at big prices is the way to go.
SAM CURRAN has been given plenty of opportunity to showcase his batting talents on this tour, possibly with a 50-over World Cup in India later in the year in mind and with England currently Ben Stokes-less in this format, and the Surrey man seems likely to bat in the top six again on Tuesday.
It’s fair to say that Curran has yet to really show what he can do in white-ball cricket for England, not with the bat anyway, but he is an excellent player who initially made his name in England’s Test team when proving their lifeline with a number of valuable lower-order contributions at the beginning of his international career.
A gig at the IPL, where he has opened the batting for Chennai Super Kings, saw his batting develop further and having so far had to settle for a spot amongst the bowlers in this format, owing to the vast batting strength within the squad, we just haven’t seen the best of him with bat in hand.
But he can play, and has already made scores of 33 not out, 23 and 12 on this tour. Ben Duckett won this market with 28 on Sunday, so Curran isn’t far away, and 12/1 is big enough to warrant a bet.
A second string to my bow comes in the shape of CHRIS WOAKES, always a value play in this market and was only five runs short of the winning line with his 34 in England’s defeat in the final ODI.
Woakes averages a very respectable 24.75 in that format, with five half-centuries, and he has done well enough with limited opportunities in this format, too. With England currently short on batting options in Bangladesh, he batted at number seven on Sunday.
The Warwickshire man is more than capable of making thirty in these conditions, a score that might well be enough should England once again fail to reach anything close to the 150 mark on another tough surface.
As such, the 33/1 on offer with Boylesports is worth a spin to small stakes.
Preview posted at 1540 GMT on 13/03/2023
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