Top price on Bairstow building on Test runs in first South Africa ODI
Published:Jonny Bairstow may have been left out of England’s last one-day series with Australia, but his performance in the final Test with South Africa must ensure his recall.
Ladbrokes are offering the clear top price of 10/1 that Bairstow is England’s top run scorer in the first one-day clash with South Africa at Cardiff.
And there is a strong possibility that he may even come in at number four in the order to boost his chances of scoring runs, given Kevin Pietersen’s omission from the squad and the doubts over Ravi Bopara.
Bairstow came within a whisker of his first international Test century with 96 in the first innings of the third Test with South Africa.
He then followed up with another half-century in the second innings, which was scored at a rate faster than a run a ball.
Bairstow’s naturally aggressive game is arguably more suited to the one-day arena and he looks the most overpriced to top-score in Cardiff.
Ladbrokes are guaranteeing best prices for all players in the first ODI to be the top runscorers for their respective teams.
With Jacques Kallis not playing for South Africa, Faf du Plessis seems favourite to get the opportunity to bat at three, with Hashim Amla opening in the one-day environment.
Du Plessis is 6/1 to be top the South Africa run chart in the first ODI and he would have gained confidence from being on standby for the Tests with England.
However, his ODI average is greater than in Test matches and he will have gained experience of the probable conditions through a spell on Lancashire’s books.
Alternatively, Amla scored over 200 more runs than any other player in the three-Test series with England and can bring this form into the one-day game.
It is 3/1 that Amla is South Africa’s top runscorer in the first ODI.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
