Cricket Betting
England look for Edgbaston elevation
England v South Africa 3rd Test
England will be hoping that the traditional happy hunting ground of Edgbaston will lift their spirits in the third Test against South Africa after suffering a ten wicket loss to South Africa in the second match at Headingley.
Michael Vaughan's men, 11/4 to bounce back with a win in Birmingham, looked second best throughout the contest in Leeds. The selector's decision to pick the relatively-unknown seamer Darren Pattinson proved a head-scratcher as South Africa, 11/10 to tie up a series victory, piled on 522 in their first innings. The draw is available at 7/4.
"It does look a confused selection, but the selection of one person does not lose you a Test," Vaughan said. "The collective unit lost the match. We didn't play well enough, and we didn't feel as much of a unit this week."
Captain Vaughan has alluded to the fact that Pattinson's puzzling inclusion in the squad could have unsettled the side, but England's number three batsman has the more pressing issue of his own form to address.
The Yorkshireman has a knack of coming up with the goods when his batting is at rock bottom - as his innings of 166 against Australia at Old Trafford in 2005, when he had scored a total of 32 runs in the series up until that point, demonstrated - and is 12/1 to finish top run scorer at Edgbaston.
While Ian Bell's 213 runs this series is the most by any Englishman, Stuart Broad's 67 not out at Headingley was enough to see him top the home team's averages. However, the Nottinghamshire all-rounder has proved expensive with the ball and could be disposed of now Andrew Flintoff is back in the side.
Flintoff is 25/1 to re-discover his batting by top scoring in the match, while Paul Collingwood, who was dropped for Leeds after playing in 30 consecutive Tests, can be backed at 20/1.
For the Proteas, Ashwell Price has accumulated the most runs so far, his 101 at Lords having been followed up with a 149 which put South Africa in a winning position at Headingley. Red-hot Prince is 9/1 to get the most runs in the match and 6/4 to score more runs than any other tourist over the series.
Jaques Kallis, with a paltry 24 runs to his name this series, is 7/1 to break the shackles by making the most runs in the third Test.
The demand for a marked improvement has historically brought the best out of England, who are 8/1 to stage a valiant fight back and win the series 2-1.
Punters should be reminded that the past two series between the two sides have seen South Africa throw away advantages. The Proteas lost a five game home series 2-1 in 2005 and drew 2-2 in England in 2003. A 1-1 series draw this time around is priced at 4/1, with South Africa also 4/1 to complete a 3-0 series whitewash.
Can under-fire England fightback?
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