- England vs Pakistan
- Twenty20 International Series, Game Four (of four)
- Thursday, May 30, 2024, 6.30pm
- The Kia Oval
England and Pakistan are three games through their four-match series, and they’ve only taken to the field once. Yes, England won it, but it’s been a nightmare start to their T20 World Cup preparations - all because of the good old British weather!
At least for Pakistan, they did manage to play a few games in Ireland earlier this month.
With no warm-up games scheduled for England in the Caribbean before starting against Scotland on Tuesday, they really need to get on the park at the Oval tomorrow.
As per the previous cricket betting tips, I expect England to win. But I won’t be advocating siding with their price, at 4/7. Instead, I’ll be looking for better value from our online bookmakers.
I’ll start with a 5/6 shot from Ladbrokes, who are offering that on both teams to post 180 plus totals.
The Oval produces some excellent T20 pitches, batters can score runs on a true pitch but bowlers can have success.
I will be coming onto bowling success in a moment. But, in terms of runs, there have been plenty here in recent times. Middlesex successfully chased 253 there in the Blast last July, for example. A couple of days earlier, Surrey posted 238-5 in beating Glamorgan.
Both England and Pakistan have definitely got enough firepower to cover the 180 mark.
Afridi and Archer to shine
The Oval generally produces true pitches with plenty of pace. So I expect two quality quicks to have a decent night.
Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi is in fantastic form with 14 wickets in his last five T20 internationals, including three in the only game of this series played - at Edgbaston on Saturday.
He is 5/4 with bet365 to take over 1.5 wickets in the match - a price I’d be siding with.
Let’s come back to him in a moment or two. But first, Jofra Archer can have success for England as well.
He struck twice in the win at Edgbaston. Ladbrokes have boosted him to 7/4 to take two or more wickets in game four.
Interjecting another bet on batting success here, William Hill have a Match Treble available at 15/8 which has caught the eye. They have an England win, them to hit most sixes in the match and for there to be a total of 14.5 sixes hit overall.
There were 11 hit at Edgbaston in a relatively low-scoring contest - 183-7 played 160 all out - and I’d expect an increase here. England hit eight to Pakistan’s three in that fixture, by the way.
Back to Afridi, and betway have him and Archer to strike twice apiece in the contest available at 7/2.
Bet365 also have Afridi alone at a juicy 5/1 to take three or more wickets at the Oval.
Given he’s in scintillating form at the moment and has achieved that feat in four of his last five T20Is, including a four-wicket haul in that run, I’d be taking that on every day of the week. That’s a great price.
Top Cricket Betting Offers & Free Bets
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/xlmedia/be51e2df-a7fd-4f62-a80e-6f729ca228d9.jpg)
