England v South Africa Third Test Betting
England and South Africa will roll into London for the final Test match at Lord's on Thursday August 16. The series could be hanging in the balance as the sides prepare to play the last match at home of cricket and the good news for all of the punters out there is that this will mean value across different cricket betting markets.
England v South Africa third Test betting could still have the series winner and series score betting markets open. This will feel a little strange to some England fans who have grown used to going into the last game of a series with victory already safely in the bag.
Final Test Match Betting
Final Test match betting in any situation is difficult because the players are human and will tense up because of what is at stake. The final Test match that was played in the last series between these two sides ended in a massive win for South Africa so they will feel confident heading into the final game, even as the tourists.
Final Test match betting will more than likely be dominated by the most experienced players. For England the likes of Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and James Anderson have all played over or near 100 Test matches which means they have the experience to help the side through difficult spells of pressure in a last match situation.
On the South African side of things the likes of Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn all have plenty of experience playing Test match cricket in the recent past. They have also all played domestic cricket in England at some stage which will give them solid experience of playing in English conditions.
Conditions at Lord's
The conditions at Lord's suggest that the batsmen will just about dominate proceedings although there will be some reward for disciplined bowling. In the Test match England played against Sri Lanka in the summer of 2011 at the venue, England scored 486 in their first innings before Sri Lanka replied with 279.
In the last Test match that England played at the home of cricket, the conditions were a little more back in favour of the bowlers as England made over 400 in their first innings with no other totals above 290 in the rest of the match. England won this match against India which will give them real confidence.
Cricket Betting Value
The best way to get cricket betting value from this last Test match is to bet live and in-play while the match is taking place. This will give the punter a better idea of which out of the two sets of players is less likely to crumble under the intense pressure of the situation.
It will also stop wasted bets if one of the sides collapses during a first or second innings. England or South Africa could score 500 plus in their first innings but if they get bowled out for 100 in their second innings then they stand a good chance of lose the match by a considerable margin.