Ireland vs England Prediction: 4/1 and 9/1 punts for third T20

Jamie Pacheco previews the third T20I between Ireland and England in Malahide, start time 13:30, live on TNT Sports on Sunday after a washed-out match on Friday.

The weather forecast is much better this time and we should get a full game, or at least a completed one, as Jamie talks you through his 4/1 and 9/1 Ireland vs England predictions.

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

Ireland 

There’s not much to say that we didn’t say last time out so you might as well just read the preview that was up ahead of that second (washed out) T20I on Friday.

Craig Young is a bowler with strong figures in international cricket, so they have to be cuter about when they bowl him: preferably at the start of the innings in a bid to try to dismiss one of England’s two dangermen at the top of the order. Or at least how much they bowl him: he only got three overs in the first match, pretty strange when you consider he’s probably their best bowler.

Curtis Campher didn’t get a bat at all last time when he has a strike rate of 125 in T20Is, so despite the fact the players ahead of him did pretty well, a few big blows from him could have made a difference. He should really come in no lower than five, probably even four.

England 

Jacob Bethell will be keen to get a first Series win under his belt as captain but that shouldn’t come at the cost of not learning something about this group of players.

Do they really need to play Jos Buttler here? Or Phil Salt? Or see Adil Rashid get through yet another four overs of spin?

They might as well give Jordan Cox a game. Or see what Rehan Ahmed can do with four overs rather than just one, as happened last time. If they’re not going to try out new things in a Series against Ireland, then they never will.

Pitch and conditions 

We’re at Malahide in Dublin for the third match running. But this time we have good news.

There is about a 20% chance of rain during the match but nothing too bad in terms of how heavy it might be.

A rival betting company’s ‘Completed match?’ market has ‘yes’ as a 1/100 chance so that’s better than any forecast, in my opinion.

We know how good a batting wicket this is so 180-190 should be the target for the side batting first.

Match Odds 

Ireland are the same 7/1 (12.5%) they were last time, which makes them a worse price than they were last time.

That’s because we’re big believers that a reduction in overs plays into the hands of the outsider. As it happens there were no overs on Friday at all, but it wouldn’t make much sense to take  the same price on Ireland when we think the format (probably a full game of 40 overs) and conditions, favour them less this time. So we won’t.

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

1pt Back Ireland Team of Top Batter @ 4/1

Now here’s a market I don’t normally play but where there’s value, there’s opportunity.

Sure, Salt top-scored in the match last time out with a brilliant 89 but we noted the next three best scores of 61, 55 and 34 were all by Irish players, in that 1^st T20I.

On a wicket as good as this, anyone in the Top 4 from either side can get to 80 or more and be top batsman in the match, with a few Irish players like Stirling, Tector and Tucker more than capable of that.

The absence of Buttler or Salt- or hopefully both- would help our cause no end but even if they both play, I still think 4/1 is a perfectly good price on an Irish batter securing the highest score in the game.

0.5pts Back Rehan Ahmed to be England Top Bowler @ 9/1

Rehan Ahmed didn’t have the greatest of games on Wednesday when given a rare chance to impress in white ball cricket for England.

Last time England used six bowlers rather than the usual seven which is good news for our bet on Ahmed if the same happens again, but let’s hope he gets at least three overs this time.

With no Jofra Archer and Rashid (5/2) possibly rested, he might not have much to beat if he gets a decent go here. And at odds of 9/1, even just one wicket and a possible dead-heat would see us secure a nice profit.

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2025:

• Points Staked: 102.25
• Points Returned: 96.25
• Current P/L: -6