Live Test Match Blogging / Ed Hawkins / 11 August 2008 /

KP's men let a lacklustre South African side back into the game at the Oval yesterday. Honours are almost even now, with England requiring 197 runs to win in three sessions today. All four results are possible so stick with Ed Hawkins for all the action.

You can email Ed with your betting stories, comments, and questions. The address is hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

15.17 Eng win by 6 wickets
A bit of pride restored for England. They will rue not picking Steve Harmison earlier. They may rue Michael Vaughan not standing down earlier, too although you'll never hear me slag the great man off. South Africa, as the series market suggested before a ball was bowled,have proved to be the better side. They had won six of their previous seven series before this outing so were rightful favourites. Perhaps more observers should remember to look at the odds before they start having knee-jerk reactions to England's demise. They're not good enough at the moment. They're weren't good enough before the contest began. Deal with it.

14.42 Eng 170-3
My flatmate has retreated to his room sobbing loudly at Strauss' failure to score the extra nine required for him to pip Alastair Cook to top England innings runscorer.

14.20 Eng 147-3
Andrew Strauss out now. Mini, mini crisis for the hosts. They are [1.02], however. Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, both on zero, the chaps at the crease.

14.18 Eng 147-2
I've just spied some fool in the crowd who has gone to The Oval in fancy dress. Some super hero costume. So, my friend not only do you look a complete tool, you have come in fancy dress on the wrong day. Fancy dress day is Saturday. A double whammy. The same point is made to people who turn up dressed as Banana Man, nuns, Amy Winehouse, Scooby, Robin Hood etc on a Thursday, Friday, Sunday or Monday. You've got the bloody day wrong! These are the type of people who would forget to dress down for non-school uniform days. Consequently they suffered from a lack of friends and now have such low self-esteem that they feel the need to dress as cartoon characters to get attention...to feel needed...wanted. 'Oh look at me! I'm Buzz Lightyear!', No, you're a cock. Ian Bell's out by the way.

14.00 Eng 138-1
A fifty for Andrew Strauss. Richly deserved because often he has looked in good nick in this series only to either get a corker of a ball or to get on in silly fashion, like at Edgbaston when he stood on his stumps. Of more interest may be that he needs only 18 to overhaul Alastair Cook as top England bat in this innings. My flatmate backed Strauss and is feeling particularly nervous. Get a grip man!

13.50 Eng 123-1
Cook is not a fan of the 60s. He has gone for 67, edging to slip off Ntini. England still well in command, though unless Ian Bell is out quickly. He has a poor record in second innings, averaging fewer than 20.

13.40 Eng 109-0
England need 88 more runs to win. They should get them in this session, particularly if the attitude of the SA team is anything to go by. Plenty of larking about and smiling faces. Cook has plenty to be nervous about, though In his last 11 Test innings he has been about for between 60 and 61 four times. He has 59.

13.00 Eng 109-0
England have done the hard work. Cook and Strauss had some tricky moments but battled hard early this morning and the home side should win this comfortably. They are [1.02].

12.25 Eng 70-0
Serene progress for England. The reason is that Paul Harris and Andre Nel, SA's two weakest bowlers, are bowling in tandem and poorly to boot. Cook and Strauss are trying to score off virtually every ball with Harris going at close to four an over and Nel at five. England as skinny as [1.07].

12.40 Eng 95-0
SA have looked a rather disinterested bunch for the last 40 minutes. They were reasonably gung-ho for the first hour but once they failed to make that early breakthrough they have been a side resigned to defeat. Not that they will be too bothered. This is a consolation only for England. It does raise an interesting point over what the series score would have been if England had had this XI available since Headingley.

12.13 Eng 50-0
Brilliant start by these two for England. The home side are now as short as [1.08] which highlights the risk of laying England at the start of play. A wicket now and they probably wouldn't be far off the [1.25] mark but they may not be enough for some who got against them.

11.45 Eng 21-0 TARGET 197
The marmalade on toast was actually rather successful. Surprising. I've just had a look at the top England second innings runscorer market and reckon Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss are value at [2.50] and [3.20] respectively. We have to think of this Test as a one-day game now and with only small target required by England ask yourself: would these two be as short if this was an ODI? Probably not. With the pair having the opportunity to get 30 or 40 on the board before someone else gets a chance, they could be worth a tipple.

11.30 Eng 10-0
Andrew Strauss survives. He glanced a leg side ball into the hands of Ashwell Prince, who had just been moved for such a shot, but Morne Morkel overstepped. Slow stuff from the home side, who are drifting again. This time to [1.32]. In truth, though, batting conditions are tough at the moment with the ball bobbing and weaving.

11.07 Eng 5-0
It's a funny old game this betting lark. England have only scored five runs this morning and already their price has dipped to [1.22]. It could be a volatile day by that early indication. That is good news for punters trading their positions. It could get volatile here in a minute, too. I'm forced to have marmalde on toast for breakfast because there is nothing else. Well, there is some spincah but that does not go too well on bread. I really hate marmalade.

10.55
Morning. Ooooh, a potentially exciting day of Test cricket ahead of us. I say day, it will probably be less than that. The weather is fine so we should have a winner by tea. After the statistical work we did yesterday, we reckon England should be [1.56] to win this. They are actually [1.32]. That means we could lay them but I happen to think England will win this game because the pitch is very good and SA lack a spinner for much-needed control. If England were to drift to [1.56] then they would be worth backing but I see little point getting against them just in case we don't have the ebbs and flows to trade.

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