Back Roy’s runs to take England to global glory
Scott and Fleetwood attractive each-way odds in the hunt for the Open’s Claret Jug
While English football fans have been singing “It’s coming home” for more than 20 years only to suffer endless disappointment, it is cricket’s World Cup which is on the verge of being won on home soil.
After thrashing old rivals Australia in their semi-final on Thursday, England are 1/3 favourites to become world champions by defeating Australia’s Antipodean neighbours New Zealand at Lord’s tomorrow.
A price of 1/3 for an England win in a match at this level would normally seem pretty stingy, but it is difficult to find reasons to oppose them.
Eoin Morgan’s side defeated tomorrow’s opponents by 119 runs in the group stage and have looked imperious in beating India, New Zealand and Australia since Jason Roy returned after missing two games – which England lost – with a hamstring injury.
Big-hitting England have immense scoring power, with five batsmen inside the top 20 runscorers in the tournament, including three in the top 10, while only Kane Williamson and 19th-placed Ross Taylor feature among the top 20 for New Zealand.
Roy is, unsurprisingly, 11/4 favourite to hit most runs for
England in this match and that looks a decent bet given his form this summer, which continued with a brilliant 85 in the semi-final. It could also be worth taking 4/1 that Roy is England’s top runscorer and England win the match. Roy has hit four half-centuries and one century in the World Cup and would surely have been in with a shout of capturing the runscorer honour at the tournament had injury not intervened.
As it stands, both Joe Root and Williamson, the New Zealand captain, need centuries to overhaul India’s Rohit Sharma in the race to be top scorer and, despite their good form, that seems unlikely.
The Open
As a result of changes to the United States tour schedule, the Open is now the last of golf ’s four majors in the calendar. This year’s is held at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, and home advantage is the reason why Rory Mcilroy is an 8/1 joint-favourite with Brooks Koepka.
However, it is five years since Mcilroy has got his head in front in a major and the pressure may be on now that the biggest tournament rolls into his homeland. Koepka will have some inside knowledge of the course as his caddie, Ricky Elliott, hails from Portrush and will be a source of invaluable advice as the four-time major winner navigates his way around the links course. The past six Open winners have all come from the top 25 in the world rankings and seven of the past eight had competed in the Open on at least six previous occasions.
With that in mind, Adam Scott could well be overpriced at 33/1. He has had four top-10 finishes in the past seven years in this tournament and has not finished outside the top 20 in his past five majors. Ultra-consistent at the big events, his putting seems to have improved and that should place him in the hunt on the final day.
It could also be worth taking a chance on Tommy Fleetwood at 25/1. He is improving year on year in this event, finishing tied for 12th last year, and his ball-striking ability in poor weather should stand him in good stead. Fleetwood’s form has dipped since he joined the US tour but a return to a European course will help. He was in contention on the final day at Carnoustie last year before a disappointing final round, and that experience should not be lost on him.