Cricket Betting Tips: Captain Morgan to lead from front on south coast again
RAFAEL Nadal at Roland-Garros, Tom Brady at the Super Bowl and Tiger Woods at the Masters.
Some sportsmen just seem to turn it on when they are in familiar surroundings and Eoin Morgan at the Hampshire Bowl is no different.
Since that dismal day four years ago when England were dumped out of the World Cup in Australia by Bangladesh, Morgan has revitalised his side’s approach to ODI cricket.
He is often and perhaps wrongly overshadowed by the brilliance of Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, but he remains an integral part of this batting line-up.
The stats back that up too, with him averaging over 45 since that loss in Adelaide and in matches in England it’s even better at over 52.
However, whenever he makes the trip down south, he seems to take his game to a whole new level.
In 13 innings at Hampshire’s ground, he has scored 610 runs at an average of 76.25 including 100s against Pakistan and Australia.
That’s seriously impressive form and I fancy the Ireland-born left-hander to continue it today against the West Indies.
Sporting Index give a spread on Morgan’s performance of 43-48, where one point is awarded for a run and 10 for a catch and I think his Hampshire Bowl form suggests that mark is a bit low.
The West Indian pace attack have already shown the threat they possess, with Pakistan skittled out for just 105.
Their hostile short bowling also had Australia in deep trouble, but Steve Smith showed that patience is key against this attack and I fancy Morgan to follow suit.
He has a great ability to start slowly and accelerate in devastating fashion which is so important in ODI cricket these days.
Conversely, I’d be keen to oppose Chris Gayle here.
He struggled against the extra pace of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins and I can see both Mark Wood and particularly Jofra Archer unsettling the big West Indian opener.
Bar a quickfire 50 against Pakistan, the 39-year-old hasn’t been in great form either with that being the only time he has scored a half-century in his last six innings.
Sporting Index’s sell price of 44 on Gayle’s performance looks worth taking, particularly given the likelihood of overcast conditions.
POINTERS
Buy Eoin Morgan Performance 48 (Sporting Index)
Sell Chris Gayle Performance 44 (Sporting Index)