England vs Ireland – Strauss to maintain run charge
Published:England’s impressive form with the bat has been the main reason for their bright start to the Cricket World Cup and this is likely to continue in their clash with Ireland to ensure they have one foot in the door of the quarter finals of the tournament.
Match Odds
With four teams from Group B qualifying for the quarter finals, a win for England over their near neighbours would take them onto a commanding seven points from three games.
England are 1/25 in the Cricket World Cup betting to beat Ireland and they have won all of the previous meetings between the pair.
However, Ireland do not come into the game without a chance, particularly if they can prevent England’s chief batsmen from settling at the crease and building an innings.
Ireland were in a strong position in their Group B opener against Bangladesh but narrowly suffered defeat after suffering a flurry of late wickets, while they have not fared too badly against England in the past.
It is 9/1 in the World Cup odds that Ireland beat England for the first time and the previous meetings between the pair have tended to be close, with Ireland never losing by more than 50 runs.
Andrew Strauss runs
England have averaged over 300 runs in their two games so far and this is largely because of the scintillating form of Andrew Strauss.
The captain has led by example with two big knocks and is the top runscorer in the tournament at present.
Strauss will fancy his chances of maintaining his form against Ireland and is 11/10 in the cricket betting to register a third successive 50.
Those expecting Strauss to make another sizeable contribution may also want to take the 1/1 that he scores at least six fours, which may be particularly likely given the speed of the outfield at many of the sub-continent pitches so far at the World Cup.
A £25 stake on Strauss being named man of the match against Ireland would return £150. New customers can sign up here for a free £25 bet.
