England v India cricket tips & predictions | Third Test preview

Third Test betting picks – India v England

Third Test: England v India preview

England’s Test series against India is beautifully poised at 1-1 as the two old rivals head to Lord’s for what promises to be another high-intensity encounter, starting this Thursday.

The home side carried all the momentum into the second Test at Edgbaston after their stunning win in the series opener, but they could not replicate their Headingley heroics in the face of an impressive all-round performance from the visitors.

Indian captain Shubman Gill put up some all-time numbers with the bat in Birmingham, following up his 269 from the first innings with a run-a-ball 161 as the tourists took apart England’s bowling attack.

With the ball, the pace pairing of Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj dovetailed beautifully in the absence of a certain superstar seamer, with Akash taking the first 10-wicket haul of his Test career.

England weren’t without hope after Harry Brook and Jamie Smith struck big tons in the first dig, but they were left far too much to do in the second innings and fell 336 runs short.

There are now some questions to be answered for the home side. Will Ben Stokes bowl first again if he wins the toss at Lord’s? Will the selectors look to inject a bit more pace and variety into the bowling attack?

Even so, the hosts come into the third Test as favorites with top cricket betting sites — although the match odds have tightened up significantly from the opening two matches of the series.

The series betting odds at Stake.com have also swung heavily, with England now at -111.11 and India plunging into +137.

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England team news

England’s pace stocks have received a big boost with the return of both Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson. Chris Woakes’ poor form leaves selectors with a big call to make, but there is a chance the 36-year-old seamer’s impressive all-round record at Lord’s will work in his favor. Opening bat Zak Crawley is still under the spotlight, but the top seven looks settled for the time being.

England’s predicted XI:

• Zak Crawley
• Ben Duckett
• Ollie Pope
• Joe Root
• Harry Brook
• Ben Stokes (c)
• Jamie Smith (wk)
• Brydon Carse
• Jofra Archer
• Josh Tongue
• Shoaib Bashir

India team news

Jasprit Bumrah is the huge inclusion for India after being rested for Edgbaston. With both sides expected to load up on seamers, spinning allrounder Washington Sundar is the man most likely to make way. The only question surrounding the top seven is whether Nitish Kumar Reddy gets another chance after failing to make an impact in Birmingham.

India’s predicted XI:

• Yashasvi Jaiswal
• KL Rahul
• Karun Nair
• Shubman Gill (c)
• Rishabh Pant (wk)
• Nitish Kumar Reddy
• Ravindra Jadeja
• Akash Deep
• Mohammed Siraj
• Jasprit Bumrah
• Prasidh Krishna

Best bets for England v India – Third Test

We have learned that anything can happen in this series, but it is hard to look past India in the third Test. They’ve won two of their past three outings at Lord’s, while Bumrah is as big an inclusion as you could hope for. Take the +135 on offer with the best online bookmakers.

With all the big run-making efforts in this series already, it’s easy to forget Rishabh Pant hit a pair of centuries in the opening Test. The Indian wicketkeeper is a more consistent player than his adventurous strokeplaying might suggest, and as he’s clearly in decent touch, the +183 for him to pass 50 in the first innings looks overs.

If Jofra Archer gets a run, you could do worse than put a few bucks on him to be England’s best bowler in the first innings. While 30-year-old quick has been away from international cricket for quite some time, you can bet he will be determined to make an immediate impact at a venue where he’s performed in the past. The +310 at 888starz is worth a pop.

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