England retained The Ashes overnight on Wednesday after winning the fourth test in Melbourne and taking a 2-1 lead in the series with just one match to go. After losing heavily in Perth, the two teams came to Melbourne level on one match each in the series before England thrashed Australia by and innings and 157 runs, the biggest win of the tour to date. The betting had been pretty even going into the match between the two sides following Australia's win in Perth but after skittling the hosts out for 98 runs on Boxing Day there was only going to be one winner.
In hindsight it was a good toss to win for Andrew Strauss, who decided to put Australia into bat and by end of play on the first day of the test Australia were all out for 98 and Strauss and Cook were unbeaten on 157. The pair lost their wickets pretty quickly on day two of the test but up stepped Jonathan Trott who scored an unbeaten 168 in England's first innings total of 513.
This left Australia chasing a mammoth total in their second innings with England still yet to bat and it was inevitable that England would win by an innings, beating Australia by an innings and 157 runs.
With the Ashes retained, betting is still available on the result of the series, with England the odds on 4/11 favourites to do so with bookmaker Bet365, whilst a draw is priced at odds of 9/4. A draw in the fifth test will be enough for England to secure a series win and that eventuality has been priced up at 21/10, with an England fifth test win odds of 7/5.
The fifth test gets underway on Sunday night UK time in Sydney and it will be a big effort for Australia to pick themselves up again and they can be backed at 9/4 to level the series. In truth however, barring the first day's play of the series plus a couple of good days in Perth, the Aussies have been outplayed throughout the series with bat, ball and in the field.
Alistair Cook leads the total runs and he is a 1/2 chance to end the series as top batsman. Mike Hussey is the odds on favourite to be top Aussie batsman but he had a quiet test in Melbourne by his high standards. Jimmy Anderson is the 4/6 odds on favourite with Bet 365 to return top bowler, with Graeme Swann his nearest rival in the betting. If England are to go on to win the series with a win in Sydney, it is there ability to be able to bowl Australia out twice which will be key and the way Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett have come in and played during the series things look pretty good in that respect for the tourists.
5th Test Betting
9/4 Australia
21/10 Draw
7/5 England
Ashes Series Betting
4/11 England
9/4 Draw
Odds supplied by Bet365.com.
Posted: Wednesday, 29th December 2010
Author: Russell Lloyd
Tags: ashes cricket, england, australia, andrew strauss, bet365,
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