Kiwis favourites to carry on winning

Chris Cairns offers some value at 11/1 to be Man of the Match © Getty Images

Having crushed the opposition in the opening two matches, New Zealand are understandably big favourites for Friday's third one-day international against Sri Lanka in Wellington. The Black Caps are 1/3 (1.33) to win again, while Sri Lanka, thoroughly outplayed in the opening two contests, are 9/4 (3.25) to win it and salvage some pride (they have already lost the series as New Zealand won the first match on the eve of the tsunami just over a year ago).

It will take a big effort from Sri Lanka to get back into the series but New Zealand are no value at 1/3, even if they don't have a great record there. Therefore, value-hunters might be better off looking to the Man of the Match market on this one, not something I would normally advise, but there's always a first time.

In particular, Chris Cairns makes plenty of appeal at 11/1 (13.00). New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, coming back from injury, tops the list at 9/1 (10.00), along with fast bowler Shane Bond, but Cairns has more to play for, since he is just 80 runs from reaching the magic mark of 5,000 one-day runs. Having just taken his 200th one-day wicket, if he gets the 80 required, he'll be only the third man to do the double, so expect a big performance from him, not least because he is still a superb all-rounder.

For Sri Lanka, Kumar Sangakkara is the most likely, at 11/1 (12.00) but, as I've already said, I'd be surprised if Sri Lanka play to their potential - they were hammered by India in their last series and things aren't going much better here.