Ireland vs England Prediction: Rain could help Ireland’s cause at 7/1 in 2nd IT20

Jamie Pacheco previews the second IT20 between Ireland and England in Malahide, start time 13:30, live on TNT Sports. 

The weather forecast is not great at all, but a match reduced in overs could assist Ireland here and makes their big price of 7/1 an interesting one, given it wouldn't be the first time they beat England in that sort of manner. Check out his reasoning below and he gives us his top Ireland vs England Prediction...

*You can check out the Cricket Odds from all of our Cricket Betting markets over on betfred.com

Ireland 

Ireland put in an excellent performance with the bat in Malahide, with 196/3.  

There were good knocks from skipper Paul Stirling (34 off 22) and Ross Adair (26 off 25) and even better ones from Hary Tector and Lorcan Tucker, who hit 61 and 55 respectively.  

We were disappointed that our 6/ 1pick Curtis Campher didn't get a fair crack of the whip with the top order going so well but then again, there's always risk associated with picking someone who bats lower down and we didn't expect the likes of Tector and Tucker to get as many as they did, or hang around for as long as they did.  

On another day it may have been a big enough total against England, and it may well have been a big enough total to down a lot of sides.   

But the absences of Josh Little and Mark Adair hurt them in defending that total, as highlighted in the preview.  

England 

Plenty to ponder about with the ball with the best economy rate of anyone being Luke Wood, who went at eight an over, with everyone else going at nine or more. Shows you how much they miss Jofra Archer when's not playing.  

In response, Phil Salt showed us once again why he's ranked the Number 2 T20I batsman in the world. His 89 off 46 was crucial in England getting to their total and without it, they would probably have lost.  

Jos Buttler, ranked 3 in the world, scored his runs quickly enough with 28 off just 10, while cameos from Sam Curran and skipper Jacob Bethell were important, too.  

Poor Jordan Cox keeps getting called up, but they seem to never give him a game. He may play instead of Tom Banton, but it would be a waste to have him bat down at six.     

Pitch and conditions 

We're at Malahide in Dublin for this one again. Unfortunately, the forecast isn't great this time round with a 70% chance of rain forecast throughout the duration of the match.  

So, it could easily be one of those stop-start games with overs lost, DLS coming into the equation and plenty of frustration for both players and fans.  

Then again, it could be worse than that because washed-out games are a very normal occurrence in Ireland at this time of year. It would be a shame because we had such a good game on Wednesday.  

Match Winner odds 

If they do manage to get a completed game, you'd think the likelihood of reduced overs would play into Ireland's hands, as that's normally the case with underdogs who need to be on their game for less time than usual, a real leveller.  

7/1 on Ireland, implied probability of 12.5% isn't a bad price at all, especially when we remember they beat England at a recent T20I World Cup in similar circumstances when the rain reduced overs there, too. It's worth half a point in a game where because of the weather, it's hard to try to predict much on the player markets.   

*For all the latest and live Ireland vs England Odds then head over to betfred.com 

England Top Batsman  

The way things have gone over the last couple of weeks, you could argue it should be Phil Salt, not Buttler, who is the favourite here.  

But Buttler has jolly status at 9/4, with Salt 5/2 and Bethell 4/1. Jordan Cox carries on looking like a good price at 6/1 but then again, he also carries on not being picked. If he does play, he won't be that great a price if he bats at 4 or 5 and there's a reduction in overs, so we'll watch with interest, but not bet on him.