England are back on international duty at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, when taking on India in the first T20I – Richard Mann previews the action.
Cricket betting tips: India v England T20I
1pt both teams to score 190+ runs at 7/4 (General)
1pt both teams to score 200+ runs at 11/4 (Sky Bet)
England’s white-ball tour of India begins at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, 1:30pm, UK time, with the first of five T20Is.
The subsequent three-match ODI series makes perfect sense, with the 50-over Champions Trophy due to start in a months’ time, but the point of five T20Is, in the midst of so much short-format franchise cricket, is hard to fathom.
Sadly, as we know all too well, it’s all about the money, as Jessie J (remember her?) once belted out. The song was Price Tag, if you’ve got your Walkman to hand.
Eden Gardens the place for runs
Staying on the theme of money, those punters who bet on big runs at this ground in IPL2024 would’ve made plenty.
It really was a free for all for batsmen, and on one occasion, Punjab Kings chased down 262 in 18.4 overs for the loss of only two wickets.
Another high-scoring match here saw Sunil Narine’s first-innings hundred overshadowed by Jos Buttler’s 60-ball 107 not out as he guided Rajasthan Royals to a successful run chase of 224-8.
An incredible innings from Jos Buttler at Eden Gardens yesterday.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 17, 2024
He now has seven IPL centuries to his name 💯#IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/CSDvZMRZmw
I suppose, to a certain extent, we must take expected conditions on trust in the first game of the series, but the weather in Kolkata has been very good of late and with the forecast for this next week again picture-perfect, surely the pitch will play somewhere close to true to form.
That means big runs should be on the cards, especially with so much batting prowess in both camps.
Buttler leading strong England batting line-up
I’ve already given a namecheck to England captain Buttler, and I’m certainly not offended by quotes in the region of 2/1 for him to make a fifty in the match.
He and Ben Duckett, if selected, could well make hay in the powerplay. Duckett was outstanding in the Big Bash recently, while the likes of Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone feature in a strong middle order.
We should also give a word to Phil Salt. This was his home ground in last year’s IPL when blasting 435 runs at an average of 39.54 for eventual champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
That’s not to say India’s own batting will be in any way outmatched. This is the new breed of Indian batting, more aggressive and fearless than ever before. Pretty scary considered they are already reigning T20 World Cup champions.
The brilliant Suryakumar Yadav is the headline act and now captain, but it was Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma who stole the show in the series win in South Africa in November.
Both made two centuries in that four-match series, when India crossed 200 three times, including when amassing 283-1 in Johannesburg.
Again, those batsman milestones markets could be worth close inspection.
What are the best bets?
With Bumrah rested and Mohammed Shami making his way back from serious injury, the home bowling attack could be vulnerable and heavily reliant on Arshdeep Singh.
England do look stronger in that department, with Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid in the squad.
Saqib Mahmood impressed in the Caribbean, but England still leaked runs on occasions in that series. This is a long way from being a bulletproof bowling attack.
As such, everything points to runs, so BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE 190+ RUNS (7/4) and BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE 200+ RUNS (11/4) appears awfully hard to get away from.
Posted at 1930 GMT on 19/01/25
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