England in position to turn the one-day screw

England have the chance to seal a keenly contested ODI series in New Zealand when the fourth match gets underway in Dunedin on Wednesday, and according to the odds-setters at Bet365, they are slender favourites to close out the rubber with a game to spare.

Admittedly the odds are not overwhelmingly in their favour - England are 8/13 for victory, compared to New Zealand's 13/10 - but the manner in which England got across the line at Wellington no doubt aids the impression that they've got the measure of this series.

They've been criticized in recent times for failing to knuckle down when the pitch conditions are not in their favour, but England's batsmen gutsed it out to reach a passable total of 234 at the Cake Tin, then closed out the game in no little style - ripping the heart out of New Zealand's batting thanks to the spin twins Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, before a nerveless bout of death bowling from Tom Curran and Chris Woakes.

The Man of the Match stakes give an indication of the type of attributes needed to win an ODI in New Zealand. Kane Williamson leads the way at 8/1, in the wake of his brilliant but futile hundred at Wellington, with Joe Root second favourite at 17/2. Both men specialise in elongated anchor roles, rather than the naked fireworks of, say, Colin Munro - although he too is also 17/2 because if he comes off, then any game can be blown wide open.

Other players to keep an eye on are Mitchell Santner, who has been in stunning form with the bat in this series - 149 runs for once out so far - and so, with spin still his primary suit, is good value at 16/1. And Curran was admirable in the clutch at Wellington. His figures of 0 for 49 in seven overs may look unflattering, but - as he showed in Perth in January - he is a better bet to be a matchwinner than his distant odds of 25/1 imply.