England v South Africa 2nd Test Cricket Betting Odds & Preview

Hosts favourites for Trent Bridge win

Cricket Betting

After a comfortable 211 run victory in the first Test, England move on to the second match of the series against South Africa this week at Trent Bridge. While Moeen Ali was the star of the show for England with his spin bowling haul (he’s 20/1 to be the man of the match in this one) the pitch in Nottingham is one for the seamers, so all-rounder Ali may have to take a back seat in this one. So if he was to come good in this one, it would most likely be with the bat.

But he’s lower down the order, so look for someone else to shine instead for the hosts who are 8/13 to win the second test at Sky Bet. You would have to pick one of the swing bowlers from a bowler perspective and Jimmy Anderson is at 10/1 at Sky Bet for the man of the match. England have so much batting power in their top six that it becomes a hard task to pull a name out of the hat in the Top England Batsman market. Of course, Joe Root is up there as 5/2 outright favourite and his confidence will be high after winning his first Test as captain last time out.

England v South Africa 2nd Test Betting Odds

England 8/13, Draw 11/4, South Africa 9/2

Alastair Cook looked to be enjoying himself without the role of the captaincy on his shoulders and he is a 3/1 poke to top score at Trent Bridge. England will be hoping to win the toss in this one and will probably shake things up by fielding first if the conditions overhead are a bit cloudy because that will allow their bowlers to take advantage of the swing that will be around on the day. So fascinating content is in store because the Proteas have to strike their way back into the series.

But they will be without Kagiso Rabada through suspension and they still look more likely to do more damage with the bat than with the ball. Quinton de Kock is a great 11/2 punt at Sky Bet to be the Top South African batsman in the second test because the other market leaders aren’t priced handily enough to warrant throwing too much at. They get their captain Faf du Plessis back for the match after missing the first Test for personal reasons. He really has to get them geed up somehow but they look as if they are running out of steam collectively.

The last time that England hosted South Africa in Nottingham was back in August 2003 and the hosts won that by 70 runs. Overall throughout their history, England have played South Africa in eight Test Matches at Trent Bridge and they have won four and drawn two of them so they have a pretty solid head to head record there against the Proteas. That first Test victory through snapped a three-match home Test match run without a win against them. In the current climate though you would expect them to drive on.

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