A betting preview of the third test match between England and India including match result and top first innings run scorer and wicket taker tips courtesy of @Olimp_SA
England vs. India 3rd Test – 25 August, 12:00
England and India will be at it again, this time at Headingly in Leeds in the third test of their series on Wednesday. India are up 1-0 in the series after the first test in Nottingham ended in a draw and winning the second test at Lord’s by 151 runs.
Last time around India were sent in to bat and posted a score of 364 runs in their first innings. Sharma (83) and Rahul (129) gave the visitors a good platform to work with and some decent contributions by Kohli (42), Pant (37) and Jadeja (40) insured that they reached a respectable total. Once again it was the seamers that did the bowling work for England and Ali disappointed only managing one wicket. Jimmy Anderson did the most damage with five wickets, while Robinson and Wood bagged two each.
The English once again had to rely on their middle order after Burns (49) and Sibley (11) struggled to find big totals at the top, while Hameed let down his side with a duck upon his return. Root (180 not out), supported by Bairstow (57), along with smaller contributions by Buttler and Ali helped England reach 391 and allowed them to take a narrow first innings lead. Similarly, it was the seamers that were the top bowlers in the first innings for India with Siraj and Sharma getting four and three wickets respectively.
At the second time of asking the Indian openers were unable to post a bigger total and fell short of their first innings score. After Wood took out number one and two for India, Pujara (45) and Rahane (61) stepped up to the plate and steadied the innings. However, a ninth-wicket stand of 89 by Shami and Bumrah was the highlight of the visitors’ second innings and it took them all the way to 298/8 on Day 5 when they decided to declare just after lunch. Surprisingly Anderson did not manage to get any wickets this time around. Wood got three, while Robinson and Ali added two each.
England were left with 272 runs to chase down and with 60 overs left to do it they were in a very good position to take the match or at least force a draw. However, it was quite clear form the get go that India were not going to settle for the draw and the bowlers absolutely ripped through the English batsman. Root (37) and Buttler (25) were the only two that managed to add some runs as the hosts collapsed for 120 runs and fell way short of their target. Siraj was the top bowler with four wickets and Bumrah was not far behind with three.
Prediction
England have finally decided to change their top order after they failed to fire in the first two tests and Dawid Malan will be brought in. He hasn’t played a test match in three years but he could very well put in a big score for his side when he returns to the crease. Statistically, Joe Root has scored 31 or less in seven of his last 11 innings at Headingly which could suggest it is time for someone else to carry the English innings.
Despite the new introduction to the batting line-up I still feel that the Indian bowling is simply too good right now for the hosts. We really got a good idea how dangerous they can be in the second innings at Lord’s and I suspect the likes of Siraj and Bumrah will be just as potent in this test. For me it’s a close call between the draw and India, but I will back the visitors to go 2-0 up in the series.
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Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
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