It’s now or never for England, as later on today they take on the Aussies in the penultimate match of their disastrous tour of Australia. Only two wins from the final two T20 matches can salvage any crumbs for England, and even that would still seem a bit hollow, after what’s already gone on.
Stuart Broad indicated after the first T20 that he felt Australia got a few too many runs, so a change in the bowling unit could be on the cards for Melbourne.
Obviously the MCG is a far bigger ground that the one at Hobart (where Australia won the 1st T20 by 13 runs), so with this in mind, England would be expecting to concede less runs should they be in the field first.
Although England slumped to 51/4 at Hobart, it was still a good effort to get up to 200 in the end. But I do find myself wondering whether that was down to the fact that the game looked up for England, so the incoming batsman could just play their shots without fear?
We’ve seen all too often in the past that England can crumble under pressure, so is it any real surprise that all of a sudden the same players can look half decent in a lost cause?
In the betting for the 2nd ODI from the MCG, the bookies unsurprisingly make Australia favourites yet again, but only just in fairness.
The Aussies can be backed at a best price of 5/6 with Boylesports to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, and leave England with 3 out 3 series’ defeats. England are 6/5 to level the series with Youwin. They are 11/10 with pretty much every other layer.
As has been the case in much of the limited overs’ matches, Aaron Finch proved to be the major thorn in England’s side. Finch is 8/1 favourite with Skybet to be the Man of the Match at the MCG (Cameron White pipped him in Hobart).
Moving onto the outright series winner, and again the punters and bookies don’t seem to fancy England to get much out of this series. Australia are 1/3 with Boylesports to win the best of 3 match series, while England are 10/3 with William Hill.