England bowlers hold key

As expected England named the same 12 for the third and final Test against India which was on duty for the defeat at Trent Bridge. Stuart Broad is again included and England could be tempted to bring him in at the expense of James Anderson. It could be a wise move. The swing bowler was ineffective at Trent Bridge on a surface which the Indian bowlers were able to make look like a terror track. And the selectors would not have been impressed by Anderson's display in Lancashire's Twenty20 semi-final defeat to Gloucestershire at Edgbaston on Saturday. Broad could make better use of an Oval track which suits bowlers with pace and bounce, rather than swing. Indeed India, who are not used to playing the rising ball given they play on slow, low surfaces back home, could wilt in the face of a pace barrage from Chris Tremlett and Broad. England are pinning their hopes on Tremlett preserving Michael Vaughan's unbeaten record in home series. Playing in only his second Test, the 25-year-old Hampshire bowler took an impressive 3 for 12 in a penetrating seven-over spell in India's second innings as the hosts went down by seven wickets to leave them needing to win the final game to level the series. And Tremlett's performance has been one of the few positives that England can take from the defeat. Indeed, Ladbrokes now make Tremlett as short as even money to finish as England's top series wicket-taker. He has ten wickets so far. James Anderson is next best with eight and is 3-1. Ryan Sidebottom is the same price despite having one fewer while Monty Panesar is 6-1 with six victims. Panesar could well be the value call given The Oval also has a reputation for helping spinners. And the Northamptonshire slow left armer has looked dangerous against India. He was unlucky not to remove both Wasim Jaffer and Murali Karthik leg before in India's first innings at Trent Bridge. England are a best-priced 7/4 with Betdirect to level the series with Rahul Dravid's men 10/3 with Bet365 and Blue Square and the stalemate at 5/4 with Coral and totesport. Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: "We have been one-nil down before in Test series and come back to draw or win a series and I am sure that the players will be conscious of that and very keen to maintain our impressive record at home in Test cricket." Vaughan is 4/1 to score another century in the final Test, Ladbrokes said yesterday. The Yorkshireman led from the front at Trent Bridge and will need to be at his best again if he is to avoid losing his unbeaten home record. Vaughan is 4/7 to finish top series runscorer, with the only other real competitor Kevin Pietersen available at 6/4. Sachin Tendulkar leads the way for India on 5/2, with Sourav Ganguly and Dinesh Karthik both on 3/1.