England vs South Africa ODI Series

After a disappointing abandonment in the only Twenty20 match between England and South Africa, the two teams lock horns in a five match ODI series, starting at Headingley on Friday.

South Africa are a stand-out price to win the series at 1.5, which seems quite justified considering the recent records of the two sides. In bilateral ODI series between the two sides, South Africa lead the way with three series wins out of four, with a 14-4 record in their favour. This year, England have comfortably lost both of their ODI series against New Zealand, whereas South Africa are 8-0 after whitewashes against both West Indies and Bangladesh.

The South Africans are an efficient ODI side with heaps of confidence. They are an agile side in the field, and their batting features tremendous depth with Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel able to rescue even the most dire situation. However, their bowling looks to be a possible weak point, with the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel relatively inexperienced at ODI, and I reckon that they could go the distance under pressure.

Whether this pressure can be created is a moot point. England are a shambles of an ODI side, and their problems seem to stem from their opening partnership, which is as shaky and inconsistent as ever. Luke Wright, Ian Bell, Alistair Cook, Matt Prior et al are never going to strike fear into the hearts of opposition bowlers, and it always seems to be an uphill task for England's talented middle order to recover from a poor start.

For this series, England captain Kevin Pietersen has made the positive and long-overdue move of promoting Owais Shah to no. 3 in the order. Shah is in excellent form at the moment, and I am hopeful that he will no longer be messed about by England and that he can cement this key position in the batting order. He is potentially world-class and can be a huge asset for England over the coming years. In my opinion, Shah is only second to Pietersen in terms of England's best batsman, and he has a fantastic ability to construct an innings. People may scoff, but his versatility is reminiscent of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and his all-round qualities demanded this promotion.

I'm keen on Shah as England's top batsman during the series, but Kevin Pietersen's record against his country of birth is phenomenal, and the captaincy will only bolster his drive, as shown by his match-winning century during his captaincy debut at The Oval.

NJ's Bets:

Back South Africa to win the series - 5pts @ 1.5 (StanJames)

Owais Shah top England batsman - 1pt @ 6.0 (E/W, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1/5) (BlueSquare)

Kevin Pietersen top England batsman - 3pts @ 3.25 (extrabet)