Michael Vaughan: England to win third ODI, but wait for a better price

Ross Taylor scored an impressive century in Napier

An impressive eight-wicket victory by England in Napier levelled the series at 1-1 and Michael Vaughan is confident the tourists will complete the comeback in Auckland, good news for punters who backed his pre-series tip of 2-1 to England

As we expected, England's class showed in Napier and it was a fine all-round performance. Jimmy Anderson and Steven Finn set the tone at the start with some quality bowling and the tourists took it from there. For Anderson to get straight back in to the groove like he has done after a break is quite remarkable.

New Zealand did OK, helped by a special knock from Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor reminding us all what he is capable of, but 270 was never going to be enough on the small ground. I was amazed that they didn't get at least 290.

For the chase, the rock that is Jonathan Trott played the anchor role for other batsmen to play around. I criticised him for scoring slowly in the first ODI but he is perfect when the team is chasing a more gettable target.

Joe Root - a Yorkshireman of course - showed his quality with a superb knock of 79. I'll be honest, he's even better than I thought he was. We knew about his temperament and ability, but technically he's got it all. He can score around all the angles; perfectly suited to the modern game.

So, with England looking like they're on top, I'm confident that they can win in Auckland and payout for those who backed my series score tip of 2-1 .

But a pre-match price of 1.594/7 is too skinny for my liking. New Zealand have shown they are more than capable of winning games and have played well for periods in both matches, so the advice would be to wait for a better price before getting involved. Look for around 1.84/5 or better.

It's another small ground in Auckland - England hit 15 sixes here in the T20 series - and the weather is set fair so I'm expecting 300 to be broken in the first innings. Look for around 2.01/1 when the market is live.

Picking a Top Batsman on these small grounds is certainly not for the faint-hearted, but I'll go with Ian Bell, for England, trading at 5.14/1 and Ross Taylor, for the hosts, trading at 4.94/1. Once he gets going, he's a tough one to get out.

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The big news back home this week was Surrey signing up Ricky Ponting for a couple of months in the summer. I'm surprised he's still playing, but it's great for English cricket. Surrey obviously have one eye on ticket sales - pretty sure they'll sell out if KP, Smith and Ponting all play together - but it will be good for the younger players to see someone of the class of Ricky close up. But I won't be coming out of retirement to take him on. I prefer the charity games - the umpires don't give you out!