Fans who profited Down Under will be keen to follow up.
The Protea brains trust has rung selection changes in the recent past, blooding young talent in the international arena and experimenting with team balance across the various formats.
It’s interesting then that the squad victorious in Australia over the fancied hosts in an ODI series last month has been kept almost entirely unchanged for their next assignment, halfway across the globe. Don’t change a winning combo, goes the adage.
However, the message of South African heroics Down Under hasn’t made much impression in England and sports books have the home team as firm favourites to win the first ODI in Leeds on Tuesday.
England 1.65, SA 2.35, according to Betway.
SA fans who won handsomely by backing their team in Australia – at similar odds – will be rubbing their hands in expectation.
But local conditions do always favour a home team.
Aside from the overall result, the books are offering an array of bets on the 50-over contest – an even wider range than was available for the Australian tour.
This allows punters to make a cautious start to these ODIs, which will be followed immediately by a T20I series against England – thus reversing the order of the white-ball formats played in Australia.
For example, the Top Batter in the match to make 99.5 runs is 1.85 for “over” and 1.85 for “under”. In a similar vein, Any Player to Score 100 is 2.40 for “yes” and 1.52 for “no”.
The Top SA Bowler category might appeal. Lungi Ngidi’s excellence in Cairns sees him at 3.20, but Kwena Maphaka’s unfamiliarity to the English batters might be undervalued at 3.85.
The first ODI, a day-nighter, starts at 2pm SA time Tuesday. The second is at Lord’s on Thursday, starting at the same time, while the third, a day game, is in Southampton on Sunday at 12am.
