England gets their Test series with Pakistan underway at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday morning and there is little to choose between the two sides in the latest odds. The draw is favourite at 11/8, while England are priced 2/1 and Pakistan are 9/4 to win the first Test according to William Hill.
England may be top of the world Test rankings but their struggles on the sub-continent are well documented and 'home' advantage could count for a great deal, with Pakistan currently 6/5 to win with the draw no bet. The UAE if of course the adopted home of Pakistan cricket for now and it is worth noting that they are unbeaten in the five Test matches they have played there.
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq has developed a disciplined and well organised team and he has overseen a run of six Test series unbeaten. It is an impressive turnaround for a side that has been plagued by controversy over the years and they have a bowling attack that is capable of causing England plenty of problems.
England's problems playing spin are well known and Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has claimed that he has developed a new delivery called the 'teesra'. He is likely to be a big threat after taking 50 wickets in his last eight Tests at 23 apiece and he is 11/4 favourite to be top Pakistan bowler this week. Furthermore, he is 10/1 to be man of the match and 7/1 to take five wickets in the first innings, which looks particularly good when you consider that he took eight wickets at the Dubai Stadium against Sri Lanka in October.
The Pakistan batting line up is also impressive as the age-less Younis Khan averages 73 since 2009 and he is 7/2 favourite to be top Pakistan batsman. For a touch more value though it could be worth a punt on Azhar Ali at 5/1 with Hills as the young batsman has scores of 56, 63, 100 and 29 not out from four innings in Dubai.
England face a tough test on the sub-continent during the next few months and preparations suffered a setback when Tim Bresnan was ruled out of the first match with injury. Stuart Broad also injured his ankle and there are calls for Monty Panesar to be given a chance in a two pronged spin attack with Graeme Swann.
Panesar took eight wickets in England's final warm up match and he is 10/3 to be top England bowler this week, although Swann is 9/4 favourite with WilliamHill.com.
England's batting is likely to come under scrutiny and how they play the spin of Ajmal could be crucial. Alastair Cook scored a century in the last warm up game and he is 5/1 to score a hundred on a ground where there has been five tons in the past two Tests. Meanwhile, Ian Bell will be looking to continue his excellent form of 2011, during which he scored nearly 1000 runs at 118.75, and as one of England's better players of the turning ball he looks a decent punt to be top England batsman at 5/1.
It looks a tricky match to call but with 18 of the last 24 matches England have played away to Pakistan ending in draws that could be the way to go.
Pakistan v England First Test Tips
Tip #1: Match to end as a draw @ 11/8 with WilliamHill.com
Tip #2: Azhar Ali to be top Pakistan batsman @ 5/1 with WilliamHill.com
Tip #3: Saeed Ajmal to take five wickets in the first innings @ 7/1 with WilliamHill.com
Series Winner Betting
9/4 Pakistan
11/8 Draw
2/1 England
Top Pakistan Batsman Odds
7/2 Younis Khan
7/2 Mohammad Hafeez
9/2 Misbah-ul-Haq
5/1 Azhar Ali
5/1 Taufeeq Umar
Top England Batsman Odds
4/1 Alastair Cook
4/1 Jonathan Trott
4/1 Andrew Strauss
9/2 Kevin Pietersen
5/1 Ian Bell
Top Pakistan Bowler Odds
11/4 Saeed Ajmal
3/1 Abdur Rehman
10/3 Umar Gul
10/3 Junaid Khan
10/3 Aizaz Cheema
Top England Bowler Odds
9/4 Graeme Swann
11/4 James Anderson
11/4 Stuart Broad
10/3 Monty Panesar
10/3 Chris Tremlett
Odds supplied by WilliamHill.com, who provide several other betting markets, including live betting in-running, throughout the First Test match.
Posted: Monday, 16th January 2012
Author: Chris James
Tags: test match cricket, pakistan, england, saeed ajmal, william hill,
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