mvaughan

I saw no reason why England went into the T20 match on Saturday as favourites and I'll say the same about this match.

The last time these two met was admittedly in Sri Lankan conditions but a ten-wicket defeat in any circumstances represents a huge gulf in quality. England were ok at the last World Cup with inspired performances against both South Africa and India in particular but the brand of cricket they played simply wasn't in the same league as that of Tuesday's opponents or eventual winners India.

The surprise for me is that there doesn't seem to be a definite plan to change the way the team plays. It's almost as if they've decided that there was nothing wrong with the approach at the last World Cup and that, if they carry on doing the same thing again, they'll somehow come good eventually.

The two big areas I think England need to address are in the way they approach their batting. The batsmen have to take more risks in terms of trying to clear the ropes and take more responsibility when it comes to converting good starts into hundreds. Scoring 50 off 70 balls and getting out can be a decent contribution on a low-scoring pitch but, on a wicket where you need to post or chase 300, you need your batsman to turn those good platforms into big scores. We saw Andrew Strauss do it a couple of times over the last year or so before retiring from limited-overs cricket and KP certainly did it when he first broke into the side. But there hasn't been enough of it recently. The best players like Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara don't think a half-century is a job done; they appreciate the need to kick on and make the most of the fact they've played themselves in and always target three figures when they get past 50.

The toss wil be important here because if it's a sunny day at the Oval you can post some pretty big scores. Whoever wins the toss will surely bat first so a safe bet may be to back the side who gets first digs on a good track. But if that's Sri Lanka you will have lost the value so it may be just worth taking a bit of a gamble and backing Sri Lanka pre-match at a very attractive 2.4.

Kevin Pietersen loves The Oval - now his home ground of course - and showed both during the Thirst Test and the T20 the other day that he's in good nick so he's my choice for Top England batsman at around 5.3.

I've had huge trouble picking a top Sri Lanka batsman over the past month or so and that's made even more difficult this time because we don't know if Tillekeratne Dilshan is fit to play. So let's turn to the top Sri Lankan wicket-taker market where Lasith Malinga is around 3.3. He may not lead the respective charts or rankings for whatever reason but if there's a more feared ODI bowler in world cricket, I'd like to know about him. Especially when it comes to bowling at the death when you're not just trying to keep your stumps in one piece; you're also trying to score quickly. Because of his slingy action the ball comes at you from a very low trajectory and it's difficult to get underneath it. The best way to play him at the death is therefore to aim to hit the ball from where it came from: straight back past him, mid-off or extra cover. That's easier said than done though and I fancy "The Slinger" to be their top wicket-taker on Tuesday at 3.3.


Recommended Bets:

Back Sri Lanka to win @ 2.4
Back Kevin Pietersen to be top England batsman @ 5.3
Back Lasith Malinga to be Top Sri Lankan wicket-taker @ 3.3


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