Pietersen has Cook in his sights as England build a huge lead
Published:Alastair Cook has anew rival for the top series runscorer, but fortunately for Cook and England, it’s Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen currently stands on 213 not out after England finished the third day of the second Test on 551/4, and is now 174 runs behind Alastair Cook who’s impressive knock of 148 puts him on 450 runs for the series.
Cook is still odds-on at 4/6 from 1/2 to end the series as the top runscorer, but Pietersen has been cut into 9/2 and with three games to go, there’s plenty of innings left for Pietersen to catch Cook.
But England will want to wrap up this Test match first after amassing a 306-run lead over Australia before light showers brought play to a close at tea.
Having watched the Australian attack struggle, the England bowlers know there is plenty of work to do over the next two days to capture the win, and Graeme Swann is a crucial man for punters backing England at 4/5 to win this Test.
Swann is a superior bowler to Australia’s Doherty and can use the state of the pitch to better effect as England search for the 10 wickets that will win them this Test match.
As the Adelaide wicket opens and cracks, Swann will come into his own but Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn will need to play a strong supporting role.
Ryan Harris was the pick of the Australian bowlers suggesting Anderson may rival Swann for the most wickets in this innings, but Strauss will be hoping his attack just takes the 10 wickets needed.
But Australia do hold some hope, patches of rain are expected for Monday’s play and Tuesday could be wetter still.
The weather is Australia’s only hope of salvaging a draw which is priced at 10/11.
A £10 stake on Brad Haddin being Australia’s leading second innings runscorer would return £90. New customers can sign up here for a free £10 bet.
