Sri Lanka v England: Moeen a great price to score heavily once again
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Some batting heroics enabled England to give Sri Lanka a fright in the opening ODI of their seven-match series and their closely-contested curtain raiser will ensure spirits remain high in the touring camp.
The hosts, who were recently whitewashed by India in a five-match 50-over series, aren’t exactly flying themselves, which means their 8/15 to make it 2-0 in Hambantota should be steered clear of.
At 6/4, England don’t look overly appetising either, especially considering that they were the first foes to fall under Sri Lankan wheels in this format since Afghanistan and South Korea.
Prior to spanking these small fries, they hadn’t beaten a fellow Test playing nation since August.
The match-betting conundrum is indeed a tricky one, but fear not, dear reader, for the pensmiths at news.Ladbrokes have found a solution so you don’t have to.
We’ve got three solutions to be precise, all of which can be found below in vintage ‘best bet’ format.
Sri Lanka to score over 3.5 runs in their first over @ 5/6
The first six balls of match one with England yielded seven runs, while 13 were walloped during the final tussle with India.
Looking at their last six matches in total, four have crossed the mark in question.
With heavy-hitting Tillakaratne Dilshan wielding his blade at the top of the order, it’s difficult to envisage this one not becoming the fifth instalment from seven.
Sri Lanka to score the most sixes @ evens
The tourists have assumed favouritism in this market largely thanks to Moeen Ali’s unrelenting attempts to land the ball in the car park, but don’t be swayed by his six-hitting master class, the Sri Lankans are a great price to hit the most maximums.
With the likes of Kumar Sangakarra, Angelo Mathews and, indeed Dilshan, the hosts boast several powerhouses to rival Ali, whose biggest-hitting comrade is hot and cold Eoin Morgan.
Prior to this series, three of the past four ODIs held in Sri Lanka saw England fail to clear the rope in 50 overs, while they’ve been out done in this field in each of their previous three away outings.
Moeen Ali to score over 26.5 runs @ 5/6
The Worcestershire all-rounder bludgeoned the home side’s lauded spin attack in scoring 119 runs from just 87 balls last time.
Were it not for his exquisite showing, England would’ve lost by a lot more than the 25 runs they did and Alastair Cook and co can count on him to notch at least 27 here.
In just six ODIs he has crossed the boundary in question on four occasions, including in three of his previous four.
Three of the four innings in question were batted out on foreign shores too. Yep, that’s free money you can smell folks.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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