Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series

[kevshat]

While England and Australia go at it down under, the top two in the test rankings meet in what should be a cracking 3 test series. As always with SA's home internationals the series is live on Sky and should be top viewing. Definitely a series I'm looking forward to. Schedule:

Thu Dec 16 - Mon Dec 20 08:30 GMT | 10:30 local 08:30 GMT	1st Test - South Africa v India SuperSport Park, Centurion	15 - 25° C Forecast Scattered Thunderstorms Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Sun Dec 26 - Thu Dec 30 08:00 GMT | 10:00 local 08:00 GMT	2nd Test - South Africa v India Kingsmead, Durban	N/A
Sun Jan 2 - Thu Jan 6 08:30 GMT | 10:30 local 08:30 GMT	3rd Test - South Africa v India Newlands, Cape Town	N/A

[Tyler]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series The final paragraphs of this article tell me rain is all over the First Test between these two. Doesn't fill me with any kind of confidence when it comes to betting so will more than likely stay away.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series 2 outrights for me going into this series. 2pts M.Morkel Top South Africa Series Bowler 3/1 Bet365 I like Morne Morkel at this price. Not only is he a fair price at 3/1 but I think a lot of things in this series will suit him. South Africa aren't stupid, there's going to be little in the wickets for this series for the spinners. That would play into India's hands. These wickets will be fast and bouncy which is right up Morkel's street as he's got both attributes very well sorted. Of course pacey wickets brings Dale Steyn right into play but for me he hasn't been quite the same since missing some game time with injury. Morne Morkel bowled well out in the UAE against Pakistan on wickets which weren't suited to his style. These ones are though and at 3/1 I'm happy to take the tall pace man to do the business for South Africa in this series and come out the other end of it with the most wickets. 1pt South Africa to win 3-0 14/1 Totesport Maybe slightly speculative this one but I do think South Africa will win the series and I don't see any reason why it can't be 3-0 either. Looking at the venues and Centurion is the only place I was doubtful of a result but listening to the groundsman and he thinks he's producing a result wicket. I'm pretty sure we'll see results in Durban and Cape Town so we'll get 3 results. India don't generally play their best cricket in fast, bouncy conditions whereas these are conditions that South Africa gobble up. Admittedly India have a fairly good 3 prong seam attack but with an injury doubt to Zaheer that is weakened quite heavily if he can't play. The likes of Sehwag have shown that he isn't as good in these conditions so I think SA will win this series and given that I strongly believe we'll get 3 results I'll have a small punt on the end result being 3-0.

[Tyler]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series 1pt - Top South Africa Batsmen (Series): AB De Villiers @ 9/2 AB De Villiers really has transformed himself as one of South Africa's best batsmen in recent years and has firmly cemented himself in South Africas top-order as their resident #5. His mammoth 278* in Pakistan last month shows what this guy is capable of when the conditions go his way and at 9/2, I see a price which is worth a punt. I don't think the conditions will suit India at all and personally think they'll struggle in the bowling department on these South African wickets. If De Villiers gets in, and gets settled, he's impossible to bowl to. An interesting stat I dug out too is that since January 2008, he has gone to score hundreds in 8 times out of the last 10 he's reached 50. Good conversion rate. 1pt - Top India Bowler (Series): Ishant Sharma @ 7/2 Kev, I like your write up on Morne Morkel and this is, in essence is the exact same but on India's side. There are doubts over Zaheer Khan's fitness, especially for the 1st Test and I really doubt these South African pitches will play into any spinners hands (Harbhajan, Ojha etc) so will therefore look to the seamers for this market. Sharma is a tall lad. He can hit the deck hard and cause problems to most batsmen. He also is fairly quick and I expect the ball to nip about a bit helping the likes of Morkel, Steyn, Sharma etc. 7/2 is a reasonable price too in an Indian bowling attack that to me, looks abit weak. I am completely paper trailing this series, if my luck from football extends into the cricket, I will guess everything I don't put money on correctly and lose everything I do. Good luck to all :hope

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Have been looking forward to this series for a long time and I expect it to be a great one. One outright to begin with. 2pts - VVS Laxman Top India Batsman - 13/2 (Coral) Laxman has had 3 previous tours to South Africa which I feel will put him in good stead for this series. Although he doesn't have an outstanding record in SA averaging just 41 as opposed to his career average of 47, it shows that conditions are usually tough. I expect them to be no different this time round with lots of talk of pace and bounce. Should that be the case I expect India to be in trouble with the bat on a few occasions which will allow VVS at number 5 to play the rescue act as he has done so often for India. He's been in good nick in recent times averaging 79 in the last 12 months so if India struggle with the bat and Laxman performs as he has been, it will make this 13/2 to look an even bigger price. Therefore I'm happy to have a good punt on India's crisis man to top score for them in this series.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Right, circumstances have called for another outright. 2pts - Sreesanth Top India Bowler - 4/1 (bet365) I can't quite understand this price for a couple of reasons. Firstly Zaheer Khan is all but ruled out of the first test match with a hamstring injury meaning Sreesanth along with Ishant will spearhead the attack for this first test at least. Note the best available price was 10/3 yesterday so I'm not sure what bet365 are thinking to increase this further. There were reports that he had injured an ankle playing football in practice but what I understand is that was nothing serious and I'm sure he'll play tomorrow. In addition to this, Sreesanth has already experienced South African conditions and was the star bowler last time round (2006/7) taking 18 wickets in 3 test matches. Should the ball swing around as expected with conditions set to be overcast, Sreesanth will be in his element. Obviously with Sreesanth he can always lose his cool and spray the ball around but he has shown that his attitude has improved somewhat lately and at 4/1, I'm more than happy to take a gamble on him to take the most wickets for India again.

[Tripcore]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Zaheer is doubtfull for tomorrow. If I was the captain and i had a injured player who is quite important in the team i wont take any risk, so i really dont expect him to play the first test. In my opinion they are going to Draw this game.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series One for the first test match. 1pt ew - Mark Boucher Top Batsman (1st Inns) - 16/1 (1,2,3) Coral All the talk prior to this test match has been about pace and bounce and overcast conditions. If this is the case the team batting first could be shot out pretty quickly as both teams have a couple of dangerous seamers. Should this happen there will be the opportunity for one of the big price lower order batsmen to sneak into a place if not win the market outright. Mark Boucher fits the bill as he is a gritty batsman who can bat with the tail and make crucial runs in tough circumstances. He has a couple of hundreds at this ground, albeit against weaker opponents, nevertheless it will give him good memories. I'm backing a low scoring game where the lower order batsmen could sneak into the top 3.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Slow start for me too. 1pt ew H.Singh Top India Batsman (1st Inns Only) 33/1 Ladbrokes (1/5 1,2,3) Harbhajan Singh's been in decent nick with the bat and with all the rain that's been around Centurion in the lead up to this match should mean there's plenty of juice in the wicket so there's a fair chance the top order could go quickly for the team which is unfortunate enough to have to bat first. As I said in the series outrights, these aren't conditions the Indian batsmen enjoy. That includes Harbhajan in all fairness but his aggressive style could come off particularly if batting is tricky to begin with and India bat 1st. A couple of problems with this bet is obviously Harbhajan not being ideally suited by these conditions and India batting 2nd when the pitch is a bit better. However none of the Indians will be at home and if the pitch is better Harbhajan is in good enough form to get a few. 33/1 is just about too big a price so I'll take the Indian spinner to top score 1st time around.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series That was very annoying. Harbhajan looking so good to top score and then gets run out 9 short of the current lead when he would actually have been in had it not been for his bat getting stuck in the ground :sad. Hopefully his 27 can hold on to a place at a nice price.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Very unlucky Kev. Place money is no bad consolation mind you ;)

[ani_lfc]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series One in play bet for me.. 4 Points Hashim Amla to score over 36.5 Runs @ 1.83 Bet365 Hashim Amla is a top class batsman and is in the form of his life at the moment, top scoring in a couple of South Africas series's this season. Hes got a good test average of 46.5 and anything close to that will bring the bet in. His last innings at Centurion saw him score 100 against England so fingers crossed for the same.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Easy as you like ani :clap

[Tyler]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series This Indian Bowling attack looks so weak its ridiculous. As soon as De Villiers comes in I'll be looking at some in-play markets. Maybe Over 44.5 Runs or something. One for me now though: 2pts: Hashim Amla - Over 98.5 Runs @ 5/6 with Bet365 He has looked imperious all morning. The ball is alot softer and is coming onto the bat lacking any pace or swing. Its a batsmens paradise out there and there is not many better than Amla at this moment in time. Fully expect him to hit a century here and I hope he doesnt dissapoint. Kallis has been the big run scorer this morning allowing Amla to quietly go about his business and score runs at his pace. I only hope he doesnt lose concentration when he comes out after tea or somethign like that. Fingers crossed.

[ani_lfc]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Following on from my bet, going for another, same reasoning as before.. 3 points Hashim Amla to score a century @ 1.8 B365

[Tyler]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Completely off-topic but I cant be the only person to notice some of the SEXY women in the stands today. Shit.

[Tyler]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series

2pts: Hashim Amla - Over 98.5 Runs @ 5/6 with Bet365 He has looked imperious all morning. The ball is alot softer and is coming onto the bat lacking any pace or swing. Its a batsmens paradise out there and there is not many better than Amla at this moment in time. Fully expect him to hit a century here and I hope he doesnt dissapoint. Kallis has been the big run scorer this morning allowing Amla to quietly go about his business and score runs at his pace. I only hope he doesnt lose concentration when he comes out after tea or somethign like that. Fingers crossed.

:beer Painful viewing for any indian fans out there. These two don't look like they're going anywhere any time soon and I expect them to continue their work tomorow morning. Hopefully De Villiers comes in tomorow and adds another mammoth total to get him up on my Top Batsmen prediction. Will add any more bets later if I see anything of interest.

[ani_lfc]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series

One in play bet for me.. 4 Points Hashim Amla to score over 36.5 Runs @ 1.83 Bet365 Hashim Amla is a top class batsman and is in the form of his life at the moment, top scoring in a couple of South Africas series's this season. Hes got a good test average of 46.5 and anything close to that will bring the bet in. His last innings at Centurion saw him score 100 against England so fingers crossed for the same.

Following on from my bet, going for another, same reasoning as before.. 3 points Hashim Amla to score a century @ 1.8 B365

5 points profit to start the series of :D Unlucky with the Harbhajan bet Kev, cant beleive he got run out like that, would have been an immense profit, but i guess a place aint to shabby. The Morkel and 3-0 series outrights look strong :ok

[Tripcore]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Hi all, Second test to start in two days. India is @ 6 and draw or SA @ 2.10. In Bet365 we can bet for player performances, Sehwag is 90 or more. If he makes a 50 and 40 in the second innings is that bet won? He did a bad start in Centurion but 90 looks ok for him, dont u guys think like me? also Tendulkar in 92 or more, and we saw him making ok innings in Centurion, he was the best batsman of the team. I think Tendulkar is an option @ 1.83 looks good to me.

[Tyler]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series

Hi all, Second test to start in two days. India is @ 6 and draw or SA @ 2.10. In Bet365 we can bet for player performances, Sehwag is 90 or more. If he makes a 50 and 40 in the second innings is that bet won?

Yeah it does. If he scores 90 runs in the match, the bet will be a winner. Personally I am not convinced that the majority of Indian batsmen, including himself have mastered playing on these South African pitches yet so will therefore avoid those markets myself unless it was someone like Tendulkar or Dravid. On top of that, this article doesn't fill me with the most confidence about a result there so there is the possibility of a team not having two whole innings. Might stay away from this one.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Merry christmas to all. A poor start for me with both outrights in very weak positions and Mark Boucher not getting a hit for SA but I'm going for one to begin with for the second test match. 2pts - Top India Bowler Zaheer Khan - 9/4 (Boylesports) It is fair to say the Indian bowlers were pathetic in the first test match with both Ishant and Sreesanth looking toothless (as well as Unadkat but given it was his debut he can be excused somewhat) therefore the return of Zaheer Khan will be a huge boost for India. With conditions set to be similar to the first test match, should India win the toss then Zaheer could be deadly on a green track with overcast conditions. Even if India bowl second, I expect Zaheer with his experience and skills to outbowl the two seamers mentioned. With some bookies as short as evens on this, I'm happy to go with India's spearhead to top the wicket taking charts in this test match.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series +5.6pts for me coming into this 2nd test and I could not agree any more with Westy. It looks a 9/4 no brainer. I'm going with 4. 4pts South Africa (-35.5 runs) 1st Inns Lead 3/4 Sportingbet I quite like South Africa to cover this handicap. Batting won't be easy here but I'm just not sure India have the bowling talent to take advantage of that. South Africa do. Steyn and Morkel exposed a few techniques at Centurion and on a more bowler friendly wicket, particularly when the cloud cover comes in, I think they'll do so again. South Africa have a top 5 in supremely good form and while India's top 5 are capable you'd have to say not one of them are comfortable in these conditions and the potential absence of Gautam Gambhir can't be described as helpful in any way. South Africa are looking good with bat and ball at the minute and as I mentioned in my 1st post in this thread they have conditions that suit them perfectly. I think they'll lead by a comfortable margin on 1st innings. 3pts H.Amla to beat R.Dravid (1st Inns Only) 5/6 Sportingbet Normally I like to take these match bets when the guy I'm backing has a good record on this ground but I will go against the grain a wee bit here. Hashim Amla doesn't have a good record in test cricket at Kingsmead with an average of just 13.55 but it is his home ground so there's no reason why he should be so poor here. The reason why I'm happy to ignore previous form on the ground is the immaculate form he's in. He's scoring runs like they're going out of fashion. Rahul Dravid's record here isn't a lot better. Only 50 runs from 2 tests at an average of 16.67 and he didn't look great at Centurion. He made 40 in the 2nd innings but it was a good batting strip then. I don't think this will be favourable for the batsmen much in this match so I'll go with the better form man and that's Hashim Amla. 3pts Z.Khan Top India Bowler (1st Inns Only) 9/4 Boylesports Zaheer Khan is a massive boost for India in this test match because their bowling attack looked powderpuff at Centurion. Zaheer makes the ball talk. He's capable of moving it both ways and for me he's India's best seamer by a long long way. Harbhajan Singh is probably the biggest danger here but conditions aren't going to suit him one bit I don't think. Ishant Sharma can be good on his day but to me Zaheer is the best bowler by far and assuming he's 100% fit I'm confident he'll win this market. 1pt ew H.Singh Top India Batsman (1st Inns Only) 33/1 Ladbrokes (1/5 1,2,3) Harbhajan should have landed this bet at Centurion but Ladbrokes seem happy to offer the same odds and I'm equally as happy to take them because the same circumstances appear here. There's been a bit of rain around Durban in the lead up to this match so batting 1st won't be easy on this wicket. Should SA get India in 1st then the top order could go for not many again and Harbhajan's style and form would make him a big player again. He was only 9 away from landing the big money last time out and he won't repeat that dismissal probably ever again so at the same price I'm more than happy to be on.

[Tyler]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Glad I stayed away from this one as I would have strongly predicted South Africa dominating. Still think that they're in this one though. I reckon if they skittle India out with a lead of around 300, they have enough quality to chase that down. No betting predictions from me though I cannot confidently pick anything at all at the moment. Shall be great viewing.

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Should be good viewing the end of this. 3pts SA To win 2nd Test @ 23/20 Bluesq The hosts are chasing 303 to win the match and currently sit on 111/3 at the close on day 3, with Kallis and de Villiers at the crease I fancy that at least one of them will stay around to chase this down, it was crucial they stayed in and I think they're set up nicely to make a match winning innings. Not often totals like this get chased down at this ground but SA will be quietly confident I'd imagine.

[Berlington Bertie]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series First post for ages, had a lot of problems but hopefully be able to dedicate a little more time to the forum from now on and share a few winners with you all of course!! 7pts India to win the 2nd Test 8/11 William hill I feel India should have more than enough here to win this test and tie the series.The South Africans still need another 192 runs with 3 wickets down, so the Indians only need to claim three more wickets and they will be into the South Africans reasonable long tail.The weather forecasts for the last two days is also not too favourable for batting with rain forecast at some time during both days, the cloudy conditions should aid the bowling side aswell as the pitch still doing a bit.Kallis might well stick around for a while but Ab De villiers likes to play a few shots and on this pitch i fancy him to play just one shot too many early on and fancy the Indians to win from here.

[infamous]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Think the above is a good bet. Currently pissing down with rain in Durban - supposedly in the middle of a fair storm. Should bring some moisture/dampness to the pitch, as well as perhaps some cloud and overcast conditions. All aid the bowlers you would think. South Africa relying hugely on this partnership between Kallis and De Villiers - break that early and you have to fancy India to win comfortably.

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Good call. :ok

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Excellent call Bertie in the last test :clap -4pts for me with the outrights still to run. The series is poised perfectly at 1-1 with the decider beginning tomorrow. 3pts - India to win the test match (DNB) - 7/4 (Bet365) This is a big price on India I feel after their showing in the last test match. The return of Zaheer had made a massive difference and South Africa struggled when India went hard at them. The conditions are set to be more batsmen friendly at Newlands with the possibility of spin coming into play as the test match progresses. If this is the case, this will suit India perfectly as Harbhajan has easily outbowled Paul Harris. With stake returned if it is a draw, I'm happy to side with India to take the series. 2pts - Top India Batsman (1st Inns) Virender Sehwag - 7/2 (William Hill) Sehwag has had a quiet series making only 120 runs in the series so far but he has threatened to cut loose on a couple of occasions. With conditions set to be easier for the batsmen according to the curator, I'm confident Sehwag can cash in here. There will be extra motivation for him to end the series on a high as he won't be taking part in the ODI series to follow therefore he will be desperate to make a contribution. He has been good for me in the past so hope that can continue here. At 7/2 I'm backing India's swashbuckling opener to topscore in the first innings.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series Sorry that India DNB is at William Hill not bet365.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: South Africa vs India - Test Series And two player performance bets. (1pt per run, 20pts per wicket, 10pts per catch and 25pts per stumping) 3pts - MS Dhoni 93pts & over - 5/6 (bet365) India's captain has covered this line in both the tests so far and I fancy him to surpass it once again at Newlands. He has looked confident with the bat so much so that he is India's top run scorer in the series at the moment. If he gets an opportunity there is the possibility he can get close to this line with the bat alone but nevertheless a couple of cameos like the previous test will put him in good contention. He obviously has other scoring methods with the caught behind always in play on these South African tracks as well as a stumping possibility should the pitch start turning. On the whole, happy to go overs on Dhoni here. 3pts - Zaheer Khan 100pts & over - 5/6 (bet365) Zaheer scored 147pts in the last match taking 6 wickets and scoring an important 27 he comes into the game on the back of an excellent performance in the last test. Conditions may not be as conducive to bowling in this test match but there will still be enough to interest someone as skillful as Zaheer. He is India's go to man with the ball so he'll bowl plenty of overs should things get tough. 5 wickets in the course of the test match seems a reasonable ask especially considering he's no mug with the bat to increase our chances. Once again I'm happy to go on the overs here.