England 11/2 to claw back second Test after India quick wickets

England’s Test cricket hopes were high after the national side clawed back an unlikely victory in the first Test against India in June. The home side chased down a 371 target on the final day of the competition thanks to Ben Duckett’s 149. 

During that first test, Captain Ben Stokes received a lot of criticism for his decision to field first. Eventually, the decision paid off as his team emerged as five-wicket victors. Buoyed by that success, Stokes opted to bowl first again. While the decision eventually paid off during the first Test, it could have backfired this time around.

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India’s captain, Shubman Gill, knocked a hugely impressive 269 runs – a record highest score for any Indian batter in England and the biggest score by an Indian captain on any ground. The visitors were eventually dismissed for 587 after facing 151 overs.

England didn’t get off to a much better start batting, either. Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope were dismissed with successive deliveries as England suffered three quick wickets early in the innings. Harry Brook and Joe Root did start to put together a score, reaching 77-3, but things did not look good heading into day three. 

In fact, although England came into the test having been given odds of 4/6 to take the win, these odds had lengthened all the way out to 9/1 by the start of the third day. Bookmakers clearly did not believe Stokes’ team would be able to recover this deficit. 

Day three didn’t start well, either. Nine balls in, Joe Root was caught out before Ben Stokes was out the ball after, leaving England 84-5 before lunch. Since then, England have staged something of a recovery, especially thanks to the rapid scoring of Jamie Smith. 

By 1 o’clock, Smith had scored 90 runs from 71 deliveries and was chasing the record for the fastest player to reach 100 runs in Test match cricket. The current holder is Gilbert Jessop, who, in 1902, reached the figure from 76 deliveries. 

Smith hit 22 runs from a single Krishna over to help give him a chance of beating the century-old record. Meanwhile, Harry Brook has chipped in with 83 runs of his own, although it has taken him 115 balls to reach that score. 

England are 231-5, giving them a much greater air of respectability and bringing their odds in. Ladbrokes.com are now offering a price of 11/2 on England winning the game. A draw has been priced at 9/4, although an India victory is still considered the most likely outcome, and bettors can get a price of 4/6 on Gill’s men holding on and taking the win.

England vs India second Test odds, correct at the time of writing, from Ladbrokes: