Australia lead England 1-0 in the Ashes as the teams head into the second test match which gets underway at Lords on Wednesday.
Australia won the first test at Edgbaston by all of 258 runs, an outcome which looked highly unlikely given they were 122/8 at one stage in their first innings. Steve Smith was the hero with a century in both innings, 144 in the first knock and 142 in the second.
Peter Siddle's 44 in the first innings also helped the Aussies to recover from their disastrous start to post 284 with Broad taking 5 wickets and Woakes 3. England replied with 375 with Rory Burns top scoring with 133 and other contributions of note came from Joe Root (57) and Ben Stokes (50).
England were still in control at that stage but the game took another twist in the second innings as
Smith's ton, Matthew Wade (110) and runs down the order saw Australia post 487.England crumbled on Day 5, all out for 146 with Nathan Lyon taking 6 wickets and Pat Cummins 4.
Jimmy Anderson was injured in the first innings and will play no part here, Jofra Archer is expected to replace him. Moeen Ali has been dropped with Jack Leach coming in and England will select from the following squad
England (2nd test squad): Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
Australia opted to leave Mitchell Starc out of their side the first test when they lined up as follows.
Australia (1st test): Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Patrick Cummins, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Matthew Wade, David Warner
In the outright betting Australia are now trading at 0.57/1 with Sportingbet to win the series with the draw at 5/1 and England can be backed at 5/2. The favourite in the series correct score market is Australia to win 3-2. Steve Smith is 4/10 to be Player of the Series and any player to score a double century in the remaining 4 test matches is priced at 13/10.
The Venue: Lords, London
England have won 4 of their last 5 test matches at Lords, beating South Africa by 211 runs and West Indies by 9 wickets (in 2017), India by an innings and 159 runs in 2018 and Ireland by 143 runs last month.
In the 2015 Ashes series Australia won the Lords test by 405 runs with Steve Smith scoring 215 in their first innings total of 566/8 declared
Selected 2nd Test betting Markets:
To Win the 2nd Test
England 15/10
Draw 26/10
Australia 14/10
Prices are an average of what was available at the time of publication but subject to change.
Sportingbet price boosts
Joe Root England 1st innings top run scorer was 11/4 now 33/10
David Warner Australia top run scorer was 4/1 now 5/1
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The Verdict:
I wouldn't rule out an England comeback although with Smith in such good form I prefer to look outside of the match result for a betting interest.
I will turn to the Player Performance market with WSB and side with Chris Wokaes to beat his quote of 111.5. With 1 point awarded per run and 20 per wicket Woakes has the capacity to score on both fronts whilst each catch would boost the tally by a further 10 points.
Bets: Player Performance, Chris Woakes over 111.5 at 17/20 with WSB
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Remember you can have your own say on all this week’s matches on our discussion forum
