Back Buttler to batter the Aussies in the final ODI

If England are to snatch a series victory from the jaws of defeat, then they need look no further than 23-year old Somerset wicketkeeper Jos Buttler to lead them home.

With the wicketkeeper/batsman having top scored in both of the ODI’s that weren’t lost to the elements, it is somewhat surprising that despite his place in the lower echelons of the England batting line-up, coming in to the fold at seventh in the order, he starts the game at 9/1 to be England’s leading run scorer in Southampton.

Leading the way in the betting, unsurprisingly, is Kevin Pietersen. Despite only wracking up 65 runs in total throughout this series, the big hitting batsman starts the match at 10/3 to top the scoring charts at the Ageas Bowl.

Aussie paceman Clint McKay wrote his name into the Australian history books by becoming only the fifth player to wear the baggy green to take a hat-trick in international one-day cricket, and the giant paceman is priced as short as evens to take more than 1.5 wickets in the match – a feat he has achieved in both successfully completed matches in this series.

Added to this, he has a career record of taking two or more wickets in an innings in 25 of his 49 appearances for the green and gold. Despite these stats, providing the weather holds off, backing the man from Melbourne to repeat his trick looks too good to turn down.

More ominously for both England and Australia is the ever predictable English autumnal downpour, which according to the latest report looks set to set up camp over the south coast stadium and prospects of play look bleak at best.