Scotland vs England
It’s a showpiece occasion!
The David v Goliath of cricket, set against the backdrop of the auld enemy rivalry.
Only difference being that Scotland haven’t been playing cricket at the top table long enough to have developed a proper relationship and rivalry with anyone, let alone the traditional, historical enemy south of the border which is always an integral part of clashes in the likes of rugby and football.
Talking points
It’s still Scotland vs England for one and that’s a talking point in itself.
It’s a match that has been sold out for nearly three months, on saying that there’s only a 4,000 capacity anyway.
Even still, the country is widely excited for the moment at The Grange in Edinburgh when Kyle Coetzer leads out Scotland against their nearest countrymen.
England are big favourites and rightly so.
Indeed, the last time the teams met was in the 2015 World Cup.
On that occasion a Moeen Ali century helped England to a 119-run victory,
England will be without Chris Woakes, who has joined Ben Stokes on the injured list, yet his replacement is hardly a slouch.
Tom Curran has eight ODI caps and was part of the team which won England’s last series in New Zealand three months ago.
England have stormed to the top of the ODI table and Scotland know the formbook points to a victory for the established nation over their underdog hosts.
The Scots prepare to welcome the world’s No 1 ODI side ahead of two T20 internationals against Pakistan next week and for coach Grant Bradburn it’s all an important part of the bigger picture.
For Coetzer and his team know positive showings and results in fixtures such as this one can significantly help on their path to seek test status.
They also know the task facing their side, describing their opponents this week as ‘sensational’.Coetzer went onto pronounce them as the strongest side they’ve ever played.
Yet Scotland are making great strides all the time.
It’s a year since they recorded their first ever One Day International victory and remember they were only denied a place in next year’s World Cup by an agonising rain-affected defeat to the West Indies.
Off-spinner Tom Sole will miss the game because of a broken ankle, sustained during club duties but they will have in-form all-rounder Dylan Budge and former captain Preston Mommsen in their line-up.
So England should at least be wary.
England’s Joe Root knows their recent innings win over Pakistan does not mask recent failings and they can ill afford an embarrassing defeat and all the negative headlines it would create.
History
England won by 119 runs in the 2015 World Cup meeting between the nations in Christchurch.
A year earlier in Aberdeen, England had triumphed by 39 runs, while their inaugural one-day international meeting in Edinburgh in 2010 also saw the tourists triumph by seven wickets.
What are the odds?
It’s a simple choice for sports betting fans. Asian Handicap with SBOBET offers England 0.00 @ 1.08 compared to the Scots 0.00 @ at a very outside 5.54.
England have lost to underdogs before in ODI cricket, however.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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