ODI preview / Andrew Hughes / 23 June 2010 /

Eoin Morgan's masterful century made it first blood to England in the five match series against the old enemy. Can they double their advantage? Andrew Hughes previews Thursday's second one day international in Cardiff.

Venue and Conditions

Another gloriously sunny day is forecast and though this is ostensibly a day night game, the floodlights should be superfluous for most of the match. The average first innings score at Sophia Gardens is 221 and even if you discount a one-sided game featuring Zimbabwe, it is still only 234, so it could be hard work for batsmen.

Team News

It is hard to see England making any changes for this game, after their impressive win at the Rose Bowl. Cardiff pitches tend to be slow and offer something for the spinner, so Michael Yardy is likely to keep his place ahead of Ajmal Shahzad.

Australia's problems appear to be with their bowling so there could be some tinkering. Young leg-spinning all-rounder Steven Smith is the likeliest choice to come into the team, possibly at the expense of James Hopes.

Match Odds

Any fears that England might not be able to transfer their Twenty20 form back to the fifty over game were dispelled in Southampton on Tuesday with an impressive performance in which many of the Caribbean heroes featured prominently. England's batting was more dynamic than their opponents, for whom Michael Clarke again played the anchor role but was unable to accelerate to enable the Aussies to set a genuinely challenging target.

You can be sure that the Aussies will be working hard to put things right, but it is difficult to see how they can do anything about their biggest weakness: their inexperienced bowling attack. Rookie beanpole Josh Hazlewood looked promising, but with Doug Bollinger struggling, they don't look to have the firepower to trouble the home side. Their best hope is to once again bat first and hope that the big hitters come off this time. But right now, odds of [2.2] about an England win on Thursday look very tempting indeed.

Top Batsman

Thursday's game is likely to be a low-scoring affair and the sluggish pitch may not suit Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter. Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood are possibilities if the game turns out to be more attritional, but neither is in great nick and so it makes sense to stick with the form batsman, Eoin Morgan, one of the best limited overs batsman in the world right now, at likely odds of [5.5]

Most of the Aussie batsmen made starts on Tuesday, but only Michael Clarke went on to score a half-century. There were signs though that Ricky Ponting is coming back to his best and you would have to assume that a batsman of his class will score big at some point in this series. You should be able to back the Australian captain at around [4.5] or so to top score for his team.

Featured Market

There has only been one century in five one day internationals at this venue, so it could be worth backing 'No' in the Century Scored market at [2.0] or better.

Andrew Hughes says: Back England to beat Australia at [2.2]

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