England now eyeing one-day success

It's amazing the difference a week makes. When I initially wrote this preview of the one-day series between New Zealand and England, which begins in Wellington on Saturday, England looked set for a tough task. Now, after a series of injuries and woeful efforts, New Zealand look a shambles.

England have a better side on paper, but without Andrew Flintoff, they lose their best bowler and a thunderous one-day batsman, who can turn a match in the space of a few overs.

They still have Kevin Pietersen, of course, while Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood will support him, while their bowling is solid, rather than spectacular.

I still believe that they are a poor one-day side, who never seem to get ther act together for more than one match at a time and don't quite understand how to play the game, while New Zealand always perform better than the sum of their parts.

However, with captain Daniel Vettori a doubtful starter after an injury that kept him out of the two Twenty20 matches, and Shane Bond already ruled out of both the one-day and Test series, the home side looks to be in freefall.

Vettori is a solid captain and an excellent bowler so he will obviously be badly missed if he fails to recover in time. Former captain Stephen Fleming leads the batting and a host of bit-part players, who usually perform their best, will have to do just that again if they are to stand a chance.

Having originally tipped New Zealand to win the series, I just feel the wheels have come off and with Paul Collingwood beginning to mould a decent side together, England have to be backed, even at their new price of 1/2.

England are also the same price to win the first match of the five-game series, while New Zealand, as they are for the series, are 6/4.

Correct scores
With bet365 now making New Zealand 6/4 to win the series, England dominate the correct score markets as well. A 3-2 win is the favourite at 15/8, while a 4-1 win is a 3/1 chance. Strangely, New Zealand are just 5/2. A 5-0 England whitewash is just 13/2, which says a lot.