ENGLAND V PAKISTAN: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews the Third Test, starting on Friday, between ENGLAND v PAKISTAN with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

The Edge has been a professional cricket trader for over 12 years, and we are delighted to have his columns on BETDAQ Tips. He provides his best bets on a points scale between 1 and 5, with 5 being a rare max bet.

Because we see so much action in-running on cricket, he will also provide some in-running strategies that could develop in-play and lead to some excellent value bets. The Edge covers all forms of cricket: Test Matches, ODI’s and T20’s but his favourite competition is the Indian Premier League each season.


MATCH OVERVIEW:

After a washout in the 2nd Test, all eyes focus on the 3rd Test between England and Pakistan in Southampton on Friday. It’s fair to say that the 2nd Test left a bad taste in the mouth for many cricket fans, with bad light and weather delays becoming farcical. The ICC are now discussing changes to how the bad light law is viewed, and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. It could be one of those Tests that was so bad they change the rules!

The reality is they were very unlucky with some big showers throughout the Test, and the umpires caused the bad light issue. From the little play we seen England were massively on top. Pakistan were bowled out for 236 and it should have been much lower if England improved their catching. Pakistan could have easily been four down before lunch on day 1, and there was only going to be one winner – if we got play!

Pakistan need a victory here to draw the series so they have many reasons to play attacking cricket here. I can only see that favouring England with their bowlers in excellent form. Draw backers will like the fact that on the long-range forecast there’s a 50% chance of rain every day, and we’ll just have to wait and see what we get.


WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

As I said above, the long-range forecast says a 50% chance of rain but we shouldn’t see the volume of rain that we got during the 2nd Test. That being said, you really have to monitor the radar in-play with the high temperatures and the thunderstorms rolling in. One thing in draw layers favour here is the umpires will be under immense pressure with the bad light issue and from that point of view, we should see more play.

Looking at the long range forecast, I feel we’ll get enough cricket to get a result here and with more-or-less the same conditions we can expect reasonable low batting scores and good conditions for bowling. That won’t be good news for Pakistan who struggled against the moving ball.


RECOMMENDED BET:

I like the England win here at 1.88 after what we saw in the 2nd Test. If England had taken their chances in the slips, Pakistan would have been in huge trouble before the weather saved them. As it was, 236 was still a low score and England managed to get to 110/4 before the Test was over. I’d expect low scores again here, with 300 being a very good score.

If we get the same cloudy conditions as the 2nd Test and we don’t suffer rain or bad light then we can expect a lot of wickets to fall. The draw looks a fair price at 4.2 given the circumstances – you wouldn’t want to lay it but it’s not a backable price either. For me, England win with the better bowling options for the conditions.

The Edge Says:
Two points win England to beat Pakistan at 1.88 with BETDAQ Exchange.

View the market here -> https://bit.ly/BDQEngPak3rd


IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

The 2nd Test was shaping up to be a cracker before the rain and bad light farce. We saw a lot of action on the draw price, and if the forecast says we get rain then we should see a similar situation with a first day draw crash. Depending on how the forecast looks, I’d be happy enough to lay the draw if it crashes on day 1. At the moment, it looks like the second, third and fourth days will be the best for the weather – but as we know things change quickly.

I think it will be a very good Test for the bowlers, so I would certainly be looking at trading options while on the bowling side. Pakistan really struggled with the moving ball under cloud cover, and you’d have to expect the same again here. England’s middle order isn’t bomb proof either, especially without Stokes and there will certainly be a lot of trading opportunities of the course of the five days on the bowling side.


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