Testing Times for England

England crumbled to defeat against inspired India at the Oval to fall 2-1 behind in the series with one Test to play, but where were the big winning bets, and how much did the shrewd bettors win?

Starting their final innings on Sunday evening needing a record 368 to win, England were expected to score only 267-282, but having reached the close on 77-0, that had risen to 315-327, meaning buyers at 282 could already close out their position and bank 33 times their stake as profit.

With a stand of 100, England’s openers more than did their jobs, rewarding those who backed them at the start of the innings (the 28-32 spread meant a 68-point profit) but not at the start of the final day, at 77 for 0, when the 1^st England wicket spread had risen to 111-116. Buyers at that stage ended up losing 16 times their stake.

England reached lunch at 131 for 2, with the game still in the balance and their expected second innings runs at 306-318.

Any experienced England watcher may have spotted that opportunity to sell Second Innings runs here, as India resumed after the interval looking like a new side. Selling at 306 during lunch would have seen punters bank a tidy 96-point profit as the hosts quickly collapsed to 210 all out.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled a game changing spell of inswinging yorkers while spinner Ravindra Jadeja tied up the other end. Haseeb Hassan’s departure for 63 became the first of four wickets for six runs as England slumped to a 157-run defeat.

When was the last time India won a Test Series in England? India, 2-1 up with one Test left to play – starting at Old Trafford on Friday – have the chance to win a Test Series in England for the first time since 2007

Anyone for Tennis?

Away from the Test Match, Brit sensation Emma Raducanu continued her unbelievable run at the US Open.

The teenage qualifier produced yet another demolition job to move into the quarter-finals, this time on home favourite and world number 43 Shelby Rogers, who was despatched 6-2 6-1.

World number 150 Raducanu is yet to drop a set, and won again so easily that buyers of her total points (74-78) actually lost 13 times their stake, with the job done in just 65.

Rogers, playing in front of her home crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, won only 42, meaning anyone selling at 71-75 before the match banked 29 times their money.

Total games sellers, predicting another quick win, made some decent money, the 15-game match going well under the 22.30-23.30 spread. In fact, Raducanu has lost only 15 games in the opening 4 rounds of the US Open, the fewest by any player since Serna Williams in 2013.

Who is Emma Raducanu? Born in Canada, Raducanu and her family moved to London when she was just two years old. By the age of five she was already playing tennis, and now aged 18, she is enjoying a breakthrough year, having made the 4th round at Wimbledon and at least the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows. Will Raducanu win the US Open? Well, she's still only 7th favourite with odds of 15/2 and has a tough draw, facing Olympic champion Belinda Bencic (6/1) next, but she's looked unstoppable so far