Australians favourite for Oval decider

And so it comes down to one match to decide the NatWest Challenge as England and Australia head to the Oval on Tuesday level at 1-1 in the three-match series.

England's triumph in the first match was matched in equal measure by Australia at Lord's on Sunday and Ricky Ponting's side are understandable 4/6 (1.66) favourites to take the decider and win the series. England are 11/8 (2.37) outsiders to seal a morale-boosting series win.

Unfortunately for England, Australia looked much more the real deal on Sunday, with captain Ricky Ponting finally hitting form with a superb century, and Brett Lee continuing to lead the attack with genuine pace. Lee's five-wicket haul at Lord's will have put even more pressure on the Australia selectors to pick him for the first Test in the Ashes series, which begins at Lord's on July 21.

As mentioned before though, should England win at the Oval, Australia may just be the longest price for the Ashes that they've been all summer, something that would definitely tempt the serious gamblers to get involved.

The home of Surrey CCC has been a happy hunting ground for England in one-day internationals. In 25 matches there, they've won 16 of them, while it's honours even between England and Australia there, with a couple of wins apiece from four clashes. Chasing totals appears to be the way to go there, with 22 of the 38 one-day internationals having been won by the side batting second. Their last win over Australia there, in 1997, was also achieved batting second, when they successfully chased 250 for victory.

Player Markets
Now that Ricky Ponting has shown some form, it's really only Adam Gilchrist who is in need of a big innings to bost his confidence, but such is the respect in which he's held by the bookies, the left-hander is still 9/1 (10.00) joint favourite to be Man of the Match. In four one-dayers at the Oval, he averages 42, which is four runs higher than his overall mark.

Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Andrew Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick share favouritism, while Ponting and Kevin Pietersen are 10/1 (11.00). Of those, Ponting, with his tail up, will be looking forward to the Oval, where he averages 53 in one-dayers.

Of the player performance markets, Brett Lee is generously priced at 5/6 (1.83) to get 43 points or more. With 20 points awarded per wicket, 10 per catch and one per run scored, the fast bowler needs just three wickets to be assured of making it. Paul Collingwood, one of England's best performers in the one-day summer, is 5/6 (1.83) to get 41 points or more, with the same scoring rules.

Trescothick is 7/2 (4.50) favourite to be top England runscorer, while Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan, Flintoff and Pietersen are all 9/2 (5.50). For Australia, Gilchrist and Ponting are 7/2 (4.50) favourites, while Matthew Hayden is 4/1 (5.00) and Simon Katich 9/2 (5.50).

And once again bet365 have some batsmen matches, with Trescothick a 4/5 (1.80) favourite to outscore Kevin Pietersen, who's 9/10 (1.90). Pietersen's form has dipped a little of late, while Trescothick is high on confidence.