England vs India Prediction: Salt 50 to help England win again

We have made it to the end of this five-match T20 series and it has not been going well for India. Jamie Pacheco previews the fifth IT20 between England and India at Southampton with a start time of 2:30PM on Saturday 11 July, live on Sky Sports Cricket.   

Jamie had a 3/1 winner dead-headed last time out, is showing a good profit for the Series and is backing England to win at 8/11, and an in-form batter to keep going at 3/1...

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

England  

Hard to say whether England have been excellent these last two matches, whether India have been really poor, or if it's a bit of both. It's probably the latter.  

Still, England are more worried about themselves than the opposition's failings and can be happy with their work. Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue could be a really strong opening partnership with the ball for the next couple of years. Both took two wickets on Thursday, providing us with a dead-heated winner on Tongue for top bowler at 3/1, meaning we made a 1.5 point profit on the day, which is decent enough.  

After the bowlers did their bit, it was over to Phil Salt for his second fifty in a row and Harry Brook, who tore the bowling apart with a brutal 79 not out.  

Archer may finally get a rest with the Series own and with plenty of cricket still to play this summer.  

India 

That's five losses in a row now for India, and you can almost hear the alarm bells ringing.  

If they can be excused for going at it too hard in the previous game when chasing just over 200, then there can be no excuses for posting just 158 on what looked to be a flat one on Thursday.  

Teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can be excused because this is his first taste of international cricket and because, well, he's 15, but the others?   

Skipper Shreyas Iyer was good for his 80 off 49 but there are too many experienced heads out there to be limited to a score like that.  

Bringing back Sanju Samson looks the most obvious choice with maybe Tilak Varma making way and Ishan Kishan and Iyer both moving down a spot, so Samson can bat at three.  

As for the bowlers, only Arshdeep took a wicket last time, while Varun Chakravarthy, pretty ineffective anyway, is out injured. As is Harshit Rana.  

Pitch and conditions

We're at the Utilita Bowl, where the average runs per over is 8.5.  

This is very much a bat-first pitch with 10 out of the 14 sides batting first going on to win.  

Curiously, the highest-ever chase (from those four) was just 158, so even though one would think 170-175 should be the target for the side having first digs, even 165 won't be straightforward.  

England's record isn't great, though. They've won seven of the 13 held here but, worse still, have lost four of the last six in Southampton.  

Match Winner odds 

England are the same 8/11 they were last time and this time I'm not letting that price go unbacked. 

Five losses in a row suggest more than the start of a serious problem for India; it is a serious problem.  

Key batsmen are out of form while injuries to Rana and Chakravarthy are further limiting India's options when it already looked like a slightly week squad to begin with.  

England, on the other hand, looks to have good plans in place, confidence seems high, and they look a happy camp. In contrast, I'm not sure I've ever seen a team coached by Gautam Gambhir look happy, and maybe his time in the role may be coming to an end.  

Anyway, England it is. Yes, we'd rather England batted first given the historical stats here in Southampton but we'd be happy for them to chase anything up to about 175 anyway. And yes, their record isn't great here, but they've still just about got a positive record, so that in itself isn't going to put us off.  

By the way, don't be fooled by the Boosted 12/5 on England to win and both teams scoring 180. Not only is it hard to get to that score batting first, but it's also even harder to chase it.   

*For all the latest and live England vs India 5th IT20 Odds then head over to betfred.com 

Phil Salt to score 50  

If a player is fresh from scores of 70 and 59 not out, is he due a failure? Or is he playing well, high on confidence and about to take the bowling apart for a third consecutive time?  

Let's find out. Salt has looked in great touch and will have played here plenty in the past. With two of India's better bowlers out, he shouldn't have much to fear after Arshdeep's opening spell, and of course, as an opener, he's never going to run out of balls to get to 50.  

He's also 3.0 to be England top batter but then again, he'll probably need at least 50 to win that heat anyway. And even if he gets to it, someone could trump him, as Brook did last time out. So that's why I prefer this option.  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2026: 

• Points Staked: 36.5 
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