India v England first T20 superboost
To celebrate the start of England's T20 series against India on Wednesday at Eden Gardens, Betfair are offering cricket punters a Superboost. Back a six to be hit in any of three overs - as happened in each of the last three IPL matches this ground - at boosted odds of 1/12.00 - up from 4/61.67!
Back a Six hit in any of the first three Overs of the Match (was 4/6) NOW
India v England
Wednesday 22 January, 13:30
TV: live on Sky Sports
India v England First T20 team news
India are led by Sky Yadav with Axar Patel his deputy. With no Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli anymore, they are probably stronger with the the bat than the World Cup-winning team.
Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are expected to open the batting but the rest of the order is guesswork. Axar has admitted that. Sky or Tilak Varma could be at number three. One of those joins about another three who could go in at two down.
There is no Jasprit Bumrah to lead the attack but Mohammad Shami returns for his first match in more than a year. Arshdeep Singh will lead the unit, though.
Possible India XI: Samson, Abhishek, Sky/Tilak, Hardik, Rinku, Reddy, Axar, Bishnoi, Shami, Arshdeep
England appear keen to get Ben Duckett motoring in this format so have left out Will Jacks from their squad. Jos Buttler is named as havingmoved down to number three. They match India well for batting power in the middle order, then with Jacob Bethell and Liam Livingstone retained.
Where they might fall down is Jamie Overton at seven. We're yet to see evidence that he can be a finisher at this level.
They are going all-out on pace. Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood can send a few buletts down. This may be the type of pitch, though, where pace off is key.
England XI: Duckett, Salt, Buttler, Brook, Bethell, Livingstone, J Overton, Atkinson, Archer, rashid, Wood
India v England First T20 pitch report
Stick to what you know to be true is a decent betting mantra. And we know that Eden Gardens has been a road in recent years. So we are prepared to bet accordingly. There are a number of markets to try to make it pay.
Six of the last 14 first-innings have produced scores of more than 200. So a par line in the late 180s is likely to be one for the buyers.
We are also enamoured with both teams to score 190 at 12/53.40. That has been a winner in five of the last 14. There's a massive price jump, though, from that to both teams for 220 at 17/118.00. That has won three times. Nine of the last 14 would have seen Sportsbook's total sixes of overs 15.5 busted.
Not surprisingly, scoreboard pressure from big runs has taken a toll and 10 of the last 17 in these conditions have been won by the team batting first.
Back over 187.5 1st inns runs
Back both teams to score 220
That toss bias will alert punters to Engalnd's price of 2.427/5. We don't expect it to shift much at all if they get the chance to post something massive.
It opens up a simple trade with them capable of flipping the odds with a massive score at the break. That may be too cute a strategy, though, when there are easier, straight-up yes or no betting options on runs.
In the IPL the surface held up well and it could prove a cracking trading game with the side chasing coming back from massive odds.
The Eden Gardens pitch looks so good for batting that it may not be a smart strategy to pick out one player to outscore the rest. A ton could easily be pipped by something bigger and better. So although we have two strong fancies, we might keep our powder dry.
Suryakumar Yadav is later than a London bus for a top-bat win as witnessed by a two-year win rate of 25% dipping to 17% in the last 12 months. He is 3/14.00 for top India but it would be wiser to play the 2/13.00 that he scores a 50.
Jos Buttler has a 37.5% win rate on two-year form for England. But again look for the 50 price. Sportsbook offer 9/43.25. He has ground form with a sensational ton for Royals against Knight Riders.
A left-field pick for top England bowler is Liam Livingstone at 13/27.50. He has four wins in 17. Livi could claim a shock win by sneaking maybe one or two out and pipping the rest on economy.
Back Liam Livingstone top England bowler
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