England the evens favourites to complete 'Black Cap Wash'

England are evens favourites to complete a 3-0 series win over the struggling New Zealanders, when the third npower Test begins at Trent Bridge on Thursday. Stephen Fleming's jaded Kiwis are in danger of a "Black Cap Wash" and are a distant 5/1 to win, with the draw 5/4.

England have really gelled in the past six months, with the pace attack developing into a particularly fearsome unit. Stephen Harmison has already taken 38 wickets in 2004 - but punters should beware of Duncan Fletcher's desire to keep his prize assets fresh. It is not inconceivable that Fletcher will be tempted to rest Harmison, especially with the series already won. Even so, Harmison is 8/1 favourite with Andrew Flintoff in the Man-of-the-Match market - Flintoff is the superior choice.

This match is, of course, Chris Cairns's farewell Test. He will be hoping to play a major role in his 62nd match - especially given New Zealand's injury crisis. A 17/2 Man-of-the-Match bet for his last hurrah is certainly a tempting patriotic bet. Cairns has been a regular at Nottinghamshire since 1988, but he has never yet played a Test at Trent Bridge. Bet365 are also offering a Player Performance bet on Cairns - with 10 points for a wicket and 1 point per run, you can choose to go under 118, or 118 or over - both are 5/6.

Critics of England's batting could say that Graham Thorpe, Mark Butcher and Michael Vaughan are due a few runs - but Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Flintoff and new boys, Andrew Strauss and Geraint Jones, have more than made up the shortfall. Thorpe and Butcher are both attractive bets at 9/2 to top-score in England's first innings, and Jones remains a solid outside bet at 9/1.

Other intriguing New Zealand first-innings bets include backing Stephen Fleming to outscore Marcus Trescothick (10/11), and evens for a higher-scoring opening partnership. Jacob Oram, at 15/2, is also worth serious consideration as an outside bet to be the top New Zealand batsman in the first innings.