He wasn’t trusted with the ball throughout the Sri Lanka series and at the start of this series, and I did at times wonder why England were picking him, given Cook’s lack of faith in his bowling, but now after all that Moeen Ali finds himself second in the series wicket taking charts and in with a chance of being top series wicket taker.
This is a remarkable turnaround for Ali. He now has 19 wickets (Jimmy Anderson has 21) in this series at an average of 22.94, and is also second in the betting to be top English series wicket taker.
Top England Wicket Taker Betting And Best Odds
- Jimmy Anderson (21 wickets) is 2/7 with Paddy Power
- Moeen Ali (19 wickets) is 7/2 with Ladbrokes
- Stuart Broad (16 wickets) is 16/1 with Ladbrokes
Since Ali’s century against Sri Lanka, I thought England may have stumbled across a gem. Even had his bowling proved to be not good enough to be a front line spinner, he would have been an asset given he can bat in the top 6 and be more than an adequate second spinner.
The fact that he is now looking like a front line spinner and a top 6 batsman, is an unbelievable bonus for England. I do believe his batting will come good again, I just think he may have been concentrating a little too much on the bowling lately and his batting has slightly suffered as a result.
In the outright match betting, England are 5/4 with bet365 to win the Test match and wrap up a 3-1 series victory.
All is not lost for India though, as a win would see them draw the series, which would be a very credible result in a 5 match series. An Indian win in this Test is 9/2 with bet365, with the Draw coming in at 11/8.
Obviously there is a lot of rain about in the south of England at the moment, so I would expect the draw to keep getting backed in if you are trading this Test match on Betfair.
