England not fancied to hit back

Shoaib Akhtar was unstoppable in the second ODI - England have to find a way to combat him as soon as possible © Getty Images

Whether it was a lack of sleep after they stayed up late for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards or whether it was the ferocity of Shoaib Akhtar, England were pretty poor in the second one-day international in Lahore as Pakistan levelled the series at 1-1. Shoaib stormed to a five-wicket haul and stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick was forced to admit that the batsmen had let his side down.

Click here to bet on Pakistan v England at bet365

Despite the defeat, though, there is still plenty to play for with three matches still to go, but bet365 appear to think that the momentum is with Pakistan and that they will win the series as they make them 4/9 (1.44) to come out on top, while England can be backed at 13/8 (2,62), which is not a bad price given that there is little to choose between the two sides and that who gets out of bed the better is perhaps the key.

The two sides move to Karachi for the third match on Thursday and England might take some heart from that as Pakistan actually have a losing record there, having won just 12 and lost 13 of the 27 one-day internationals to be played there. They have won four of their last five there, but England came out on top at the National Stadium in 2000/2001, when they successfully chased 305 to win, thanks to 84 from one Andrew Flintoff.

For the record, 15 of the 27 wins on the ground have gone to the side batting second but that is not a significant enough statistic to prompt a blind bet on the chasing side. Pakistan are 8/15 (1.53) to win the match in Karachi, while England are 11/8 (2.37).

Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.

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