Cricket Tips: India v England 5th ODI

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Last Updated on Monday, 24 October 2011 23:39
Written by James Hipwell
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India v England 

5th ODI, Eden Gardens, Kolkata

10am (UK time) 

England have been totally outplayed in this one-day international series and it is no surprise that they find themselves 4-0 down with one to play. I am kicking myself that I didn't back the 5-0 whitewash at 14/1 pre-tournament. 

For BR punters, however, it has not all been bad news as those who took our advice over the course of the series will be showing a nice level stakes profit. Our overall series bet was for India to win the series (at 1,8) and that bet came in after the 3rd ODI when India took an unassailable lead. We also recommended Kevin Pietersen to be Top England Batsmen in the 2nd ODI and he duly obliged at 4/1. We have other series-long bets too that could come in depending on what happens in the last ODI on Tuesday. 

To my mind England's problem is fourfold: we can blame the drubbing on the inexperience of half their players, the weakness of their bowling attack, the sometime sloppiness of their fielding and lastly their inability to cope with the torrid heat and humidity of Indian playing conditions. 

There is not much that England can do to improve at this late stage and once again I expect India to complete their humiliating 5-0 scoreline. Certainly India captain MS Dhoni has said there will be  no question of resting key members and he is as keen to serve up a whitewash as England were to serve up a 4-0 whitewash in the summer Test series. 

Another reason why England will struggle on Tuesday is that the venue, Eden Gardens, is Indian cricket's spiritual home and second only to Lord's in terms of legendary grounds. It will certainly favour the batsmen and the average score over the last 10 ODIs played there has been 270. 

I am going to side with the players who have decent form here so I intend to back Gautam Gambhir in the Top India Batsman market. He smashed 150 off 137 balls against Sri Lanka on this ground in 2009 and an innings half as good should see us clean up with this bet. 

I am also going to back India once again to win here at 1.7 if I can get it. It should mean that we will get around two-thirds of our money back if Gambhir fails to top score - and at this stage of the series I am looking to consolidate earlier gains. 

BR Betting Advice:

Back Gautam Gambhir to be Top India Batsman at 4/1

Back India to win the 5th ODI at 1.7 on Betfair