Australia v England: Third ODI predictions and free cricket betting tips

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for Tuesday's third one-day international between Australia and England in Melbourne.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 3.20am Tuesday

Best bets

Mitchell Starc top Australia wicket-taker
2pts 3-1 general

James Vince top England runscorer
1pt 9-2 general

Third ODI preview

England's players were unimpressed about the scheduling of a one-day series against Australia so soon after the end of their T20 World Cup campaign and two heavy defeats to the Aussies won't have improved the mood in the camp.

The series concludes in Melbourne on Tuesday and Australia are 4-7 to wrap up a 3-0 clean sweep against the tourists, who have been captained by Moeen Ali in the first two games.

Jos Buttler, the T20 World Cup-winning skipper, is in the squad and could feature in the final match at the MCG although even his return may not turn things around for England, who have lost 17 of their 23 away ODIs against Australia since 2010.

The Aussies, stung by their group-stage exit at the Twenty20 tournament, have produced a couple of impressive all-round performances in Adelaide and Sydney.

Openers David Warner and Travis Head shared a rollicking stand of 147 in less than 20 overs to set up a comfortable six-wicket win in the first ODI and Mitchell Starc took two wickets in his first over as England slipped to a 72-run defeat at the SCG on Saturday.

Starc had a particularly disappointing T20 World Cup, losing his place in the side, but he has impressed in this series and is worth backing to be Australia's leading wicket-taker at the MCG.

The left-armer has been all over England's out-of-form opener Jason Roy, dismissing him cheaply in the first two ODIs, and he finished Saturday's win with figures of 4-47 from eight overs.

He took 6-43 at the MCG against India in 2015 and has picked up at least two wickets in each of his five subsequent ODIs at the venue.

James Vince (60) and Sam Billings (71) did their best to rebuild England's innings after Starc's early damage on Saturday and Vince is worth backing to top-score in the third ODI.

The Hampshire captain has spent most of his career scrapping for a place in the team so he has plenty of motivation to do well in this dead rubber and he has tons of experience on Australian pitches.

His career-best Test score of 83 came at the Gabba in the 2017-18 Ashes and he has been a hugely successful import to the Big Bash, Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition, scoring 95 off 60 balls to lead Sydney Sixers to victory in the 2020-21 final.

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A 65" TV

Sign up to emails from Racing Post Sport and get all the latest news and tips

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport