England v Australia Second ODI Tips: Aussie bats can go big again

Saturday 21 September 11:00
TV: live on Sky Sports

England v Australia Second ODI team news

England, as stated in the preview in game one, got the shellacking that Australia's power and experience had threatened. There is almost nowt England can do to redress the balance after a gap of one day.

Harry Brook has taken heat for post-match comments that he 'didn't care' about the manner of dismissals as England collapsed from 213 for two to 315 all out. It may be more petinent to focus on the lack of bowling plans that allowed Australia to win with seven wickets and six overs to spare.

One change they look certain to make is leaving out Jofra archer, whose body cannot take too much work in a short space of time. Reece Topley stands by. Saqib Mahmood or John Turner could also come in for Brydon Carse, although the hosts may want his batting.

Possible XI: Duckett, Salt, Jacks, Brook, Smith, Livingstone, Bethell, Carse, Rashid, Potts, Topley/Turner/Mahmood

The good news for Australia is that they weren't at full strength. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were on the bench and both could come in to bolster a pace attack which, easy win or not, looked less than threatening.

England's problems were caused by spin and there are few worse bad beats for the Adam Zampa top bowler backers than losing to man-child Marnus Labuschagne, who somehow bungled three wickets in six overs. Glenn Maxwell is also waiting for a game.

Possible XI: Head, Marsh, Smith, Green, Labuschagne, Short, Carey, Abbott, dwarshuis, Zampa, Hazlewood

England v Australia Second ODI pitch report

There has been only one ODI played at Headingley in the last five years - and that was washed out. England had made 159 for two off 27.4 overs against South Africa. From domestic T20, however, we know that it can be very flat indeed. The cumulative run rate in the last two years is a whopping 9.2. Not surprisingly there is a bias for batting first with scoreboard pressure taking a toll.

It would not be unreasonable to reckon that a score of more than 300 in the first dig is the minimum. As ever, Australia are the more likely to do so. Going over the runs line for 50-overs is available for even money at 307.5. An RPO of just 6.16 would be needed. The weather forecast is pretty good and no rain is expected. Not that it matters on the market because 50 overs (not including all out innings) need to be bowled.

A short-term way of getting with Aussie batting power is to expect them to bust Sportsbook's runs quote for the first ten overs at over 66.5. They average 7.18 runs per over in the first ten in the last two years and have made it a mantra to be more aggressive.

England v Australia Second ODI match prediction

England had to bat first in game one to try to build a total which had the capacity to put Australia under pressure. But it wasn't enough. It was, however, enough to make Australia more appealing on the match odds, a strategy which was perfect for in-play.

More of the same would be welcome. We would expect Australia to get up to 330 or 340 to beat England on a flat deck in a chase. The potential to field a World Cup-winning bowling attack - or just use Labuschagne - otherwise means that pre-toss prices of 1.695/7 Australia are hard to argue with. Again, any sort of drit into 1.804/5 territory in the first few overs of exchanges should be taken, particularly in England's batting powerplay.

England v Australia Second ODI player bets

Adam Zampa was winning at 46% on two-year form for top Aussie bowler in this format before game one. He matched Labuschagne's three wickets but got beat on runs conceded. Do we throw our toys out of the pram or resolve to go again? Well, the price is everything and with Sportsbook still offering a big chunk in our favour at 13/53.60 we go again.

With the bat, Mitch Marsh's return to the opening slot makes him a bet at 9/25.50. He has a win rate of 26% so we're happy to play given that there's a gap of almost eight points.

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