England vs Ireland | 3rd ODI at Ageas Bowl - Statistical Preview

By1XBet, SportsCafe Editor

08/02/2020

Whilst England has already captured the series with a 2-0 lead in the series, the third ODI would give them an opportunity to test out their bench strength against a fragile Irish side. Ireland, on the other hand, would be looking to switch and change their side, with George Dockrell on the bench.

Form Guide

England - W W W NR L

The hosts are walking into this encounter on the back of a jittery four-wicket victory against Ireland in the second ODI at the Ageas Bowl. Whilst Jonny Bairstow failed to show up in the first ODI, he was in the protagonist with a 41-ball 82 of England’s victory in their second outing against their neighbours Ireland. On the bowling front, England swapped and changed a few players from their first ODI with Reece Topley making a comeback after four years. Alongside Topley, the usual suspects David Willey, Adil Rashid, and Saqib Mahmood picked up seven wickets in their win.

Ireland - L L L L L

Ireland are on the back of a five-match losing streak, certainly nothing to be proud of for Andy Balbirnie and co. Despite their loss, however, there were one or two bright spots from their performance in the second ODI, including Curtis Campher’s form. Campher has in just his two-ODI career thus far has shown what the side have been missing, with exceptional batting and equally impressive bowling performance. With the ball, there was little support to Josh Little and Campher, who had five wickets between them on Saturday.

Key Batsmen

England - Sam Billings

In both the ODIs whilst there were the highs of Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow with the bat for the English team, there was a constant presence and perseverance of Sam Billings. The Kent skipper has been in tremendous form, with his batting improving a notch since he made his last appearance in an English shirt. Batting alongside his former CSK teammate David Willey, the duo dug the home side out of trouble, eventually leading them to a clean win with four wickets remaining. In the last two games, he has put on 113 runs against his name while still remaining unbeaten throughout. If there was one batsman who could propel you to a good win, it is Billings who incidentally has an odd of 7.5.

Ireland - Curtis Campher

Let’s be straightforward here, there was only one batsman from the entire Irish pack who stood out from the first two ODIs - Curtis Campher. There is no doubt that he would continue to bat lower down the order yet his form and performance with the bat have been the sole positive point for the men in green. The South Africa-born Irish cricketer has every element in his batting technique to suggest that he could very well be their best batsman yet again in the third ODI at the already dead-pitch in Southampton. While his average might be 127, which is staggeringly high, his performance certainly lived up to that potential.

Key Bowlers

England - Adil Rashid

The left-arm all-rounder David Willey certainly has been the biggest impact for England in the series. On the other hand, however, there is the experienced spinner Adil Rashid who has bamboozled the Irish batsmen in the two matches thus far. With the hybrid wicket becoming slower by the day, the impact of the leg-spinner would be unmatched. In the second ODI, his googlies and leg-spinners left the Irish batsmen in a daze, as they were left wondering which end the ball was going to spin.

Ireland - Joshua Little

While there was little that the rest of the Irish bowling attack could do against a belligerent English side, there was one bowler who stood out, which was Josh Little. At just 20 years, Joshua Little, who is a 1Xbet favourite, bowled with such confidence against the World champions. The left-arm bowler not only sent the threatening batsman Jonny Bairstow back to the hut to give the visitors a ray of hope. However, he was not done yet as he came back to send both Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali packing to leave the hosts in a spot of bother. If Ireland are set to salvage any sort of pride away from the third ODI, they will need their left-arm pacer to strike.

Venue statistics

Nothing has changed dramatically at the Ageas Bowl since the last five years, with a familiar sight on display after every ODI. Ahead of the three-match ODI series, Ireland aimed to wipe the slate clean with a win against the hosts but to no avail. Eoin Morgan’s team has won each of their last seven ODIs at the venue with a positive result both batting first and whilst chasing. Ireland have now lost two ODIs whilst batting first at the Ageas Bowl. Whilst there is no real weakness for the hosts, Ireland could take a page out of their performance in the second ODI and try to improve on that to give a complete performance.

1xbet Predictions

While the odds are high, there is a real possibility that Jonny Bairstow might turn the screw around to score a century in the third ODI. In just his first appearance at the ground, he scored an unbeaten 141 and ever since has only come close to this with an 82. However, with the fire on his side, it might very well be in the third ODI where he goes past three figures.

Predicted XIs

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wk), James Vince, Eoin Morgan (c), Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Tom Curran, Saqib Mahmood

Ireland: Paul Stirling, Gareth Delany, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Harry Tector, Kevin O Brien, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Simi Singh, Curtis Campher, Andy McBrine, George Dockrell, Craig Young

Venue: Ageas Bowl, Southampton

When to watch: August 4, 2020, 6:30 PM

Where to watch: Sony Six, Sony Liv, Jio TV

Will England thrash Ireland and whitewash the series? Or will the Irishmen cause a major upset to get one back? To get all the live updates, follow 1xbet</p>