After winning the first test with ease, betting on England winning the test series against Sri Lanka has firmed into 1/10. However, betting on the second test has been a different story with the draw firming into 9/4 following the first day’s play. On what appears to be a very friendly batting wicket, England bashed their way to 342 for six – and three of those wickets came in the first hour.

The second test is being played at Lords and while England will have the upper hand following their innings victory in the first test, both bowling attacks may find it difficult to take 20 wickets over the five days. England’s only real hope for victory is to amass a big score quickly and to then get through the Sri Lankan batsmen early.

Bookmakers have eased England slightly to 8/13 to win the second test, 9/4 for the draw, and 7/1 for a Sri Lankan win. Pick the score betting on the series has remained unchanged with England most favoured to win 2-0 at 5/4. You can get 13/8 for a 3-0 series win and 7/1 for a 2-1 series win. A Sri Lankan series win is out to 50/1 now, and will only get longer as this test progresses. Cricket betting offers a range of betting options including best bowler, highest run scoring batsman, along with spread betting on total runs, time at the crease, and the number of no balls or wides.

The 9/4 for a draw looks to be good value at this stage. The pitch does appear to favour batsmen and Sri Lanka have shown in the past that building good scores on friendly wickets is well within their abilities. The key to this test will be in the English bowlers and whether or not they can extract anything from the pitch.

We’re backing a tame draw at 9/4 in this test and an English series win 2-0 at 5/4.