Cricket in-play betting tips: India v England fifth Test latest odds and advice
England are on the brink in the fifth Test against India, but Richard Mann is hoping to land a big winner before the series concludes – check out his in-play advice for day three here.
Day three betting update
0.5pts Tom Hartley top England second innings batsman at 50/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
0.5pts Mark Wood top England second innings batsman at 100/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
It's not over yet, but the fat lady is clearing her throat.
Another absorbing day of Test cricket on day two of the fifth Test in Dharamsala saw Shoaib Bashir enhance his reputation further on a maiden Test tour already rich in promise, but at its close India had moved 255 runs ahead with two first innings wickets still in hand.
Expect the early throws of day three to centre around James Anderson's bid to reach 700 Test wickets, scalp 699 coming in the second session of day two when he castled Shubman Gill with a sharp nip-backer, only moments after Ben Stokes had marked his return to bowling duty by cleaning up Rohit Sharma with a brilliant leg-cutter with his first ball back into the fray.
At that stage, India had already cruised past England's under par 218 and while Bashir's subsequent heroics will rightly have England fans looking ahead with excitement, in the short term, the amount of spin he was getting from the pitch on only the second day should concern England's batsmen.
Expect Kuldeep Yadav – five wickets in the first dig – Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja to prove very hard work as this surface continues to worsen, and my hopes for an England fightback are not high.
In the last two Tests, England have only mustered 122 and 145 in the second innings, and with some of the fielding on show on Friday having an end of tour feel to it, the batting could well go the same way.
I'll back backing under 250 England second innings runs if I can get 2/1 or bigger, but before that, I think this market is ripe for a couple of darts at big prices.
With reservations about England's batting before this Test, I put up TOM HARTLEY and MARK WOOD in the first innings, and given Zak Crawley was the only man to reach thirty, I'm inclined to think I was on the right track.
Crawley is enjoying a strong tour and might well win again, but the middle order in particular doesn't look capable of cracking an egg at the moment, so backing a couple from the lower order makes sense.
Hartley is enjoying an impressive maiden tour with the ball, and has also produced some handy cameos with the bat, namely 23 and 34 in Hyderabad, and 21 and 36 in Visakhapatnam.
A couple of centuries in First Class cricket for Lancashire confirms he can hold a bat, and a quickfire thirty from the aggressive left-hander on day three might well be enough to win the market on this occasion. 50/1 is certainly big enough to find out.
CLICK HERE to back Hartley with Sky Bet
As for Wood, he top scored with a 33 from only 15 balls in the second innings of third Test as England’s batting again collapsed badly.
Wood’s batting has really improved in the last couple of years. He hits a very clean ball and if England were to collapse, with Rohit sure to bring the field up in search of a quick kill, Wood could well do something similar on Saturday.
When England were hammered by South Africa at the Cricket World Cup in October following another England implosion with the bat, Wood again top scored with a typically bustling 43 not out.
He certainly has form to warrant a small go at 100/1.
CLICK HERE to back Wood with Sky Bet
Preview published at 1650 GMT on 08/03/24
Day two betting update
2pts India under 400 first innings runs at 2/1 (Sky Bet)
England’s latest batting collapse saw them throw away another position of strength on day one of the fifth Test in Dharamsala, the tourists crumbing to 218 all out having at one stage appeared well set on 100-1.
It leaves England staring firmly down the barrel of a 4-1 series defeat, which frankly, would be a bitter disappointment given how well they have played across the first four Tests, following their remarkable victory in the opener in Hyderabad.
England have consistently been hurt by their inability to weather the storm when India have managed to get on top at different points in the series, though it must be said that the home bowling attack – spinners and pacers – have been outstanding and have at least been pushed hard by England on their home patch.
Those batting collapses do need addressing, as does a middle order that just isn’t contributing enough runs. Get through Joe Root at number four, and bowling sides smell blood.
But wickets falling in clusters has been a theme of what has been a thoroughly absorbing series, and India haven’t been immune to that.
In the second innings of the second Test, they were 111-2 and 211-4, before being bowled out for 255. In the fourth Test, they slumped to 177-7 having been 86-1, and it needed some charitable catching from England a brilliant 90 from Dhruv Jurel to haul them past 300 on that occasion. In the second innings of that match, they went from 84-0 to 120-5, before Durel again and Shubman Gill rescued the run chase.
That’s not to be overly critical. India have won the series already, despite their batting missing Virat Kohli for the entirety of the series, and KL Rahul since the first match.
But at Test match level, at least, there isn’t a lot of experience there, with Devdutt Padikkal due in next, followed by the excellent Ravi Jadeja and then two more rookies in Sarfaraz Khan and Durel. Good rookies they are, but rookies, nonetheless.
The plucky Ravi Ashwin will bat at number eight, so there is depth to the India line-up, but England should fancy they can bowl the hosts out tomorrow, for all they are sure to surrender a big deficit.
Movement for India’s seamers on the first morning was not unexpected at this ground, but the amount of turn for the spinners was, and England’s bowlers will get enough assistance if they bowl well.
With England’s chief tormenter, Yashasvi Jaiswal – 712 runs in the series so far – back in the pavilion, that is one huge obstacle already removed for England, and the current partnership between Rohit Sharma and Gill will be crucial.
If James Anderson and Mark Wood can do some damage early, the innings could quickly open up for the tourists.
At 135-1, 400 still seems like a long way away, and with Sky Bet offering 2/1 for INDIA UNDER 400 FIRST INNINGS RUNS, I’m happy to take my chances at the end of a series that has seen plenty of batting collapses.
Preview published at 1410 GMT on 07/03/24
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