ODI preview / Ed Hawkins / 09 September 2010 /

England and Pakistan prepare for the first of five one-day internationals. Is there any hope for the tourists after a disastrous tour? Ed Hawkins finds out

Team news
There was a time when England would have thought it unpalatable to drop Kevin Pietersen from their one-day team. His absence for the five-match one-day series against Pakistan, which begins at a no doubt near-deserted Riverside on Friday, says as much about England's progress in the format as it does the strength of the opposition.

England have a win percentage of almost 60 in the last 12 months, a record which dwarfs some of the numbers when players of the calibre of Ian Austin or Vikram Solanki wore the royal blue. It should go up against a listless Pakistan side who appear to have lost all interest in the tour.

Fair enough, match-fixing allegations have seen them rocked, but two dreadful performances in the Twenty20 matches was no way to react. Where is the pride or determination?
The same sorry lot of batsmen who were humiliated in Cardiff are on show again. Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Wahab Riaz - if Scotland Yard quiz does not impinge - and the 7ft 1in Mohammad Irfan compete for three fast-bowling slots.

They might fancy their chances against an England top five which could read: Andrew Strauss, Steven Davies, Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan. Certainly Davies and Bopara will feel the pressure for decent runs.

Venue and conditions
Rain is expected to hamper preparations for the players, who arrived in Durham yesterday. There is more rain forecast for game day as well. Factor in the D-L Method favouring sides who bat second.

Otherwise we should expect good bowling conditions. There is not a great tradition of runscoring on this ground. The average first-innings score in the 10 ODIs played there is 229 and 300 has been passed only once.

Perhaps a lay of England for 275 runs or more could be a value wager. Prices should be checked also for a century to be scored. There have been five in the 10 games played, but the poor weather is the key pointer here.

Match odds
Not much fun to be had, unless we want to make a case for Pakistan. It would only be a half-hearted attempt, though on a par with their last two on-field performances. England are as skinny as [1.35].

Okay, okay, we'll give it a go. England have won three and lost three at the Riverside, 10 games have been won by the side batting second and the conditions should favour bowlers, which could potentially reduce the gulf between the sides. If you reckon any of that warrants backing Pakistan at [3.60], good luck.

Top batsman
In the last three ODI matches at the venue, each top runscorer has batted in the top three. Normally we would not go against such statistics but with the ball liable to nip around, it could pay to look further down the batting cards.

Batsmen at the top of the order looking to tee off in the powerplay overs could find the pitch and movement in the air unhelpful. Morgan always stands out for England in such circumstances, so does Collingwood. Bopara averages a measly 8.50 at the ground.

Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf fits the mould for the type of batsman that could go well. He top scored with 81 in Pakistan's only appearance.

Featured market
Shahzaib Hasan and Kamran Akmal are expected to be Pakistan's opening partnership. Lay them to make fewer than 30 at around [2.50] for the first wicket. They managed only 11 and 13 in the two T20s and although the pair have not opened together before in 50-over cricket, Akmal's presence is not conducive to runscoring. In the last two years when Akmal has been one half of the opening partnership Pakistan have never averaged more than 30 for the first wicket.

Ed Hawkins says: lay Pakistan for 30 runs or more on opening partnership at [2.50]

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