Live Test Match Blogging / Andrew Hughes / 29 July 2011 / 4 Comments

Today the battle for world Test supremacy moves to Trent Bridge for round two. Can England double their advantage or will India hit back with a vengeance? Armed with just a laptop, a pot of tea and a picnic hamper, Andrew Hughes will be on hand throughout the day to highlight the best betting opportunities.

CLOSE India 24-1
These two deserve some credit for resisting so well but Laxman's initials might well have stood for Very Very Slowly. On a pitch like this, Swann and Broad showed that counter-attack is the best form of defence. England are in the best position and will be fresh to have another blast in the morning. It's been a gripping day of Test cricket, join me at 10:30 tomorrow and we'll do it all again.

18:10 India 14-1
Big roar from England and they ask for a review. Not given but the pitch is starting to show signs of variable bounce now. I think it's going to get harder and harder to bat on this and Broad will really start to come into his own. That was a tremendous decision by Asad Rauf by the way. There was a noise, but it was bat on pad.

17:59: India 12-1
Two of the best batsmen in the world up against the very highest quality swing and seam bowling; Test cricket doesn't get much better than this. There are 11 overs to go for India tonight and these two look like they are digging in. That will leave India still in a weak position at the close with England able to have another blast tomorrow morning. [2.04] about an Indian win makes no appeal whatsoever at the moment.

17:35 India 0-1
VVS Laxman comes out at number 3, two positions too high. Surely Tendulkar should be coming in first wicket down? In this situation, it's all hands to the pump. Dravid has had to compromise by opening, so why shouldn't Sachin move up one place? Get in touch at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk and let me know what you think

WICKET Mukund c Pietersen b Anderson 0
Unbelievable. First ball duck for Mukund and the England win odds collapse from [2.8] a moment ago to [2.34]

WICKET Broad c Tendulkar b Harbhajan 64
Broad's innings comes to an end as he is unable to clear Tendulkar at deep midwicket. Potentially a match winning hand, that. While we wait for the changeover of innings, there's time to tell you about a top quality literary effort from my Betting@Betfair colleague, Ed Hawkins. 'Sporting Chancer' is the entertaining story of his gambling exploits during the 2007 Ashes tour. You can read a review here

17:15 England 208-9
Fifty for Broad with a monster of a shot back over the bowler's head. Once again he has changed a Test match with a superb individual performance. How many are England going to get? Will they reach that 275? Let me know what you think England's final score will be at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk . No prizes, but the smug glow of satisfaction if you get it right.

16:55 England 199-9
The game is rattling by and the Indian innings approaches, so it's worth taking a look at the top Indian batsman market. Rahul Dravid has an excellent record at Trent Bridge but he'll be opening and everyone knows he hates that role. VVS Laxman only averages 30 here and i don't like his chances against the swinging ball. Abhinav Mukund has a good future, but he'll be roughed up with the short ball and I'm not sure I trust his shot selection under pressure. MS Dhoni is grouped in with Yuvraj Singh in the 'Any Other Batsman' category, but Yuvraj will struggle in these conditions and [5.1] is a touch too short a price, given that there'll be no support from the tail. So it has to be good old Sachin at [4.5] or Suresh Raina at [7.2] who battled well at Lord's and has been working harder than anyone in the nets.

WICKET Swann c Mukund b Kumar 28
Ouch! Extraordinary lift from a good length, that ball must have hit a patch of grass or possibly a mole hill, catches Swann on the glove and was caught by Mukund. Job done by Swann.

16:30 England 178-8
Broad clinches the 'Any Other Batsman' wager with a four. He and Swann could be winning the game here for England. 50 runs in no time at all and a total that is nearing 200. That could be above par on this pitch. The market has been slow to react to the swing in fortunes and England are still [2.72] to win the match. That is simply too high and should be taken.

16:20 England 160-8
Mayhem out there as England's tail enders go berserk. One of these two has to pass Andrew Strauss's 32 if we are to land our 'Any Other Batsman' wager but you can lay off around the [1.52] mark at the moment, if you don't want to take the chance

16:10 England 144-8
Sensible swinging from Swann and Broad and poor bowling from Ishant. I think these conditions are tailor made for Bresnan, Anderson and Broad and now is the time to get on an England win at [2.74] if you haven't already done so.

TEA England 124-8
A short interlude and then we'll be back for a crucial period of the game. India exploiting conditions to the maximum, just as they did four years ago here. But if Broad and Swann can bash a quick 40 then that could well represent par.

WICKET Bell c Dhoni b Sharma 31
On the stroke of tea, Bell has put the tin lid on it. Lovely batsman to watch, but all too often, not the man for a crisis, this time tickling a wide one. Down to Broad and Swann and now if we're going to land our Any Other Batsman bet. If you have faith in these two and you still think England are the better team, you can back them at [3.1] but at the moment they haven't got a total to be competitive even on this pitch.

WICKET Bresnan c Dravid b Ishant 11
The mini mini-revival ends. Ishant opens Bresnan up and Dravid takes a lovely low catch. It's not quite as bad as it looks for England, they have the bowling to do some damage on this pitch, but they'll need 150 at least. They'd give anything to get near that 275 Asim was talking about earlier!

15:17 England 116-6
Bresnan doing the right thing in the circumstances and having a bit of a bash. Interesting to note that of the last 10 Tests at Trent Bridge, only 2 have gone to the last day and one of those was a rain affected game in which we lost the whole second day. I'm not sure we'll get a result in 3 days but I'd be more interested in backing 'Day Four Morning' at [5.8] in the Test Match End market

WICKET Prior c Dravid b Sreesanth 1
Bad news for the Any Other Batsman bet as our second hope nicks another good straight full one from Sreesanth. It's all down to Bresnan and Broad now. But you have to wonder what the English seamers will do with the ball in these conditions.

14:38 England 85-5
Portugese Pirate emailed earlier in the day: 'Nice to see none of the usual pantomime villain antics from Sreesanth. Looks calm and in control'. That was before he claimed a bump ball as a catch and earned the opprobrium of the home crowd. But that's mild by his usual standards and perhaps he has turned the corner behaviour-wise. An interesting comparison would be Stuart Broad, who has had his share of tantrums but is rarely criticised by his own captain. He's the English Sreesanth, I reckon. Get in touch at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

WICKET Morgan lbw b Praveen 0
Oh dear. Another one has bitten the dust. Reasonable decision and off goes Morgan. It's all down to Prior now to rescue them for the second innings in a row. The Unexpected Collapse Theory strikes again. Conversely, if you are convinced that this is a result pitch and that England are the better team, they are now [2.68] to win the match and you ought to be thinking about backing them.

WICKET Strauss c Raina b Kumar 32
Another safe catch from Raina at third slip and England are struggling. Time for Morgan to reprise his 100 from last summer here against Pakistan. Time for me to pour enough cuppa. Were you one of those people who thought England would steamroller India in this match? Be honest, confess at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

14:20 England 81-3
Sreesanth is bowling full and swinging it. Bell and Strauss look like they're batting in quicksand at the moment. If you backed 'Any Other Batsman' before the start at [6.8] you could lay off now at [4.6] but neither of these two are inspiring much confidence and we have Morgan, Prior and Broad batting for us, so I'll be hanging on a while yet.

13:55 England 74-3
England are [2.3] in the match odds market but with Strauss struggling and Bell too looking out of touch, England backers should restrain themselves a little longer.

WICKET Pietersen c Raina b Sreesanth
No need to play at that from KP and his method of dismissal suggests that he could be worth opposing in top batsman markets from now on and perhaps even the top series batsman market, where he is currently [2.0] He was pressing forward at that one, as he did in exaggerated fashion at Lord's and it was a short one that he didn't need to play at. The Indians look to have worked him out.

LUNCH England 69-2
Somehow England have got to the interval with only two wickets down. Ishant in particular has been causing problems but India didn't get their third breakthrough and their moment may have passed. I'd still be reluctant to back England at [2.22] though. I'm off in search of cake. Back in 40 minutes

12:45 England 56-2
Asim's been in touch. He reckons 275 will be enough for England here. I'm not so sure, India will surely bat with more resolution than we saw at Lord's. What do you think? Give us your comments at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

12:29 England 50-2
Praveen is not happy. He had Pietersen there, but umpire Erasmus doesn't want to know. He's unlucky, but you can't carry on like that. Harbhajan played the peacemaker. When Bhaji is telling you to calm down, you've probably gone a bit too far. No DRS, Praveen.

12:27 England 48-2
KP looks bang in form and has already hit three boundaries. After his doublle hundred at Lord's he's dominating the England top series batsman market at [2.0] But he's yet to meet his nemesis, Yuvraj.

12:20 England 44-2
Sreesanth is going for a few, but that's what you get when you give him the ball. He's an entertainer, albeit an expensive one. His bouffant is more restrained today, he looks less like John McEnroe without the head band. And he hasn't had any tantrums yet

11:57 England 24-2
Three of those surprise England defeats we mentioned earlier (Johannesburg, Perth, Headingley) came when they played on a faster or more seam-friendly pitch than the previous Test, a set of circumstances that are reproduced here at Trent Bridge. Could it happen again? Let me know what you think of the Unexpected Collapse Theory at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk

WICKET Trott c Laxman b Sreesanth
Breakthrough for Sree in his opening over, nice delivery. England struggling here, as we thought they might. England's odds momentarily touch [2.32] but with the middle order exposed against the swinging ball, they could lose a couple more before lunch

11:35 England 7-1
One of the quirks of England's rise up the rankings has been their tendency to implode without warning. They've done it at Kingston, Headingley, Johannesburg, the Oval and Perth, often against poorer teams. It's a pretty strange phenomenon, given their generally consistent play. The question for punters is can we predict when it's going to happen.

WICKET Cook lbw b Sharma 2
There we go. Fine piece of bowling from Ishant, gets one to nip back and that's the end of Cook. Hawkeye says it was going over, but that means nothing this series.

11:20 England 5-0
Strauss and Cook are watchful and look okay at the moment. Punters are lumping on and their match odds are down to [2.08] But Praveen and Ishant are yet to find their range and if it doesn't swing in these conditions, I'll be amazed. And there it is, good shout from Praveen, getting one to swerve back into Cook. Keep your powder dry, England backers

10:55 Michael Vaughan fancies England's chances to wrap this game up inside four days. You can read his views on the game here The home side are [2.16] for victory at the moment, but even if you think England hold all the aces here, I'd hold fire on that. The wicket is greenish, the ball will swing and they are likely to lose a wicket or two this morning, in which case you should be able to get a better price at some point before lunch.

10:50 The other team news is that Tim Bresnan takes the place of Chris Tremlett whilst Gautam Gambhir is replaced by Yuvraj Singh, who has yet another attempt to secure a Test place. Is Yuvi going to come good this time? Or will he be all at sea against the swinging ball? Get in touch at betfairliveblogger@hotmail.co.uk and let me know what you think.

10:45 A quick look at the England top batsman market reveals an interesting opportunity. The England top five don't have great records at Trent Bridge, but Matt Prior and Eoin Morgan both scored centuries here last year and you get them both for the price of one if you back 'Any Other Batsman' at [6.8]

10:36 Morning all. Lots to talk about before the game gets underway, but the toss has already happened, M S Dhoni called right and India will bowl first, just as they did at Lord's, but with a greater chance of success this time. The clouds are sitting low over Trent Bridge, as they are forecast to do all match, which is great news for Sreesanth, called into the team as Zaheer Khan's replacement. He may be madder than a box of frogs but he can swing the ball.

Comments (4)

1. Asim | 29 July 2011

   Anything around 275 in the first innings should be enough for Eng.

2. Going south | 29 July 2011

   KP again holds the key now for England. If KP stay till end of day and make a good 100+ score, England could repeat the performance. If he goes cheaply there would be batting collapse and might end up losing the test.

3. Mel | 29 July 2011

   With KP gone cheaply, I doubt England making even 275.

4. Mel | 29 July 2011

   With 6 wickets gone Dhoni Any minute now as usual take off main bowlers and replace with Raina /yuvraj etc bowling so as to allow england crawl back with pressure off their back.

   BCCI complacency is worse than English complacency on any day.
   

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