Vaughan favourite; Pietersen value

Michael Vaughan's excellent century at Lord's not only removed any pressure that may have been building on the captain's place in the England side but also moved him to the top of the betting to be his side's top runscorer in the series against New Zealand.

The skipper looked in fine touch, as he usually does even when he is struggling, as he made 106 at Lord's putting him more than 40 runs clear of the rest in the battle to top the England batting charts.

That effort made him the new favourite at 11/5, while Alastair Cook (61) is 10/3 and Andrew Strauss (63) is 7/2.

The really interesting price, of course, is the 4/1 on offer for Kevin Pietersen to come good at some stage and finish up on top. The Hampshire man began as the clear favourite, at 9/4 but made just three at Lord's.

However, Pietersen is a classy batsmen and it's hard to imagine that he will go through the remaining two Tests against New Zealand without at least one big innings, and perhaps two.

Since and including the Ashes in 2005, Pietersen has topped the scoring charts in four of the five home series, which means that the original 9/4 was actually pretty generous, making the 4/1 pretty good value, even if he has given Vaughan a start of just over 100.

In that time, Alastair Cook has finished in the top three on three occasions - the three most recent series to be exact - while Andrew Strauss top-scored against Pakistan in 2006.

Ian Belkl (16) is 8/1 while Paul Collingwood (6) is 16/1 but I would just look to Pietersen to come good sooner rather than later.

New advice - take the 4/1 on Pietersen