Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series

[kevshat]

Having played out the limited overs versions of the game West Indies now host India in a three match test series. The side India have over there could make this quite an intriguing series particularly with India over here next month. All 3 tests are live on Sky and with the extra focus the series is likely to get there should be some good betting opportunities. Schedule:

Mon Jun 20 - Fri Jun 24 15:00 GMT | 10:00 local 16:00 BST	1st Test - West Indies v India Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica	25 - 31° C
Tue Jun 28 - Sat Jul 2 14:00 GMT | 10:00 local 15:00 BST	2nd Test - West Indies v India Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados	N/A
Wed Jul 6 - Sun Jul 10 14:00 GMT | 10:00 local 15:00 BST	3rd Test - West Indies v India Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica	N/A

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series One for the first test initially. 5pts - Player Performance Pts: Harbhajan Singh 111 & over - 8/11 Bet365 India come into this test match with a depleted attack without Zaheer, Sreesanth and there are concerns over Munaf while Mithun is ruled out due to visa issues. This means that India are likely to go in with a 2-2 combo of Ishant, Praveen, Bhajji and Mishra. If you consider that Praveen is virtually a new ball bowler only, it is likely that the spinners will do a lot of bowling. The curator has talked about this pitch being hard and thus offering bounce which plays right into the hands of Harbhajan. He comes into his element as a bowler when there is bounce to bring into play the fielders close to the bat. West Indies have shown they are not great players of spin so 6 wickets over the course of a test match looks a reasonable ask for Bhajji. Considering he is also an excellent number 8, there's the chance he could reduce the total by 20/30 with the bat. All in all, very happy to go overs on the turbanator here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Weird series this one in terms of outright bets. Most of the prices look about right to me and I can't find one to begin with. Something might pop up as we go along though. Instead I'll start with 3 for this first test. 2pts West Indies to win 1st test 9/2 Ladbrokes Throughout this tour there has been a real resemblence to the Pakistan tour where they took a 3-0 lead in the ODI series, rotated players, lost the final two ODI's and then lost the first test match as well. India won the first 3 ODI's and lost the last two and I wouldn't be surprised if West Indies used that momentum to win the final test match here as well. West Indies continue to argue with Chris Gayle so he doesn't play here. Dwayne Bravo hasn't been picked either but Shivnerine Chanderpaul does make a return in this test match while Adrian Barath has also been selected. He'll partner Lendl Simmons at the top of the order. Fidel Edwards has been recalled to the squad and will be hoping for a recall while Kemar Roach is fit to play. Ravi Rampaul comes back too. India will be without a lot of their senior players for this match through either injury or being rested. There's no Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan or Sreesanth but the likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni do all take their place in the side. India look quite weak compared to usual with the ball and will need Ishant Sharma to be at his best. West Indies look like they have a really strong side here. Barath, Simmons, Darren Bravo, Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Nash are a strong top 6 while Roach, Rampaul/Edwards and Bishoo have all bowled good line up's out recently. This isn't India's strongest side but the main reason why I like the Windies in this match is the wicket at Sabina Park. It's one of the few quick wickets left in the Caribbean now and I think it suits the West Indies side perfectly. In the last test match here they bowled England out for 51 2nd time around in a winning effort and I think they can win this at a very big price. 4pts R.Rampaul's Performance Pts - 90&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. Ravi Rampaul has bowled well this summer on wickets which probably haven't suited him. He picked up 11 wickets in the two match series against Pakistan and I think he'll take wickets on this pitch too. He's not the worst number 10/11 batsman you'll ever see either. He's quite capable of holding the bat and scoring with it as a batting average of 20.22 shows. I think this will be normal match in that we get 4 innings so a couple of wickets per innings and 5 runs each time he bats is all we'd need. I'm confident he's capable of better than that so I'll take the overs here. 0.5pts ew H.Singh Top India Batsman (1st Inns Only) 33/1 Ladbrokes (1/5 1-3) Harbhajan Singh has shown himself to be a decent quality batsmen over the last 12 months and I think he's got a shout at these odds. This isn't India's first choice batting line up and we saw in South Africa at the start of the year that even their best players don't play pace and bounce too well. Harbhajan played it as well as anyone in that series and I see no reason why having been in the Caribbean for the whole of the tour so far why he won't play this attack well too. There's worse number 8's around than Harbhajan so at 33/1 with a few things in his favour I'll take a chance that the Indian all rounder can put in a decent 1st innings dig.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Really unlucky there Kev, looked so good for a long while. But some nice place money as consolation...:clap

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Cheers mate. Thought the jackpot was on there but not quite. Still delighted with the place money and the position of the other two bets. A solid chunk of his performance out of the way for you too. Looks a really great shout mate :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series That was a cracking day of test cricket, ebbing and flowing one day and then the other. Plenty in the wicket which makes for a very interesting few days ahead especially day 2. This price looks too big. 3pts H.Singh Top India Bowler (1st Inns Only) 15/8 Stan James Having chanced my arm on Harbhajan with the bat in India's innings I'm now going to try him with the ball as well. The curator said there would be nothing in this wicket for the spinners but I've no idea who he was trying to kid as there were lots of turn even on day 1. Devendra Bishoo got a fair bit as did Amit Mishra but the one I think will be most dangerous on this wicket is Harbhajan, particularly with the next 3 men in all left handers. Harbhajan was getting some real turn in the last few overs of the opening day, so much so that he had to go around the wicket to control the spin. With the top spin he uses getting bags of bounce on this quick and bouncy track I tihnk he's giong to be a real handful for the West Indian batsmen who haven't covered themselves in glory playing spin this summer. To be fair to them they've got 3 fantastic players of spin in Sarwan, Bravo and Chanderpaul and I expect the latter two particularly to play Mishra well because they've got the sweep and slog sweep with the spin to him. They can't sweep Harbhajan with the spin and that could be an issue. West Indies know they have to bat big in this innings because batting on this wicket on day 4 and 5 ain't a nice proposition. That might lead them to try to play a shot or two at some point and even though Ishant Sharma is a wicket ahead I feel Harbhajan will be the one to capitalise.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series A pretty entertaining first test is over. Well done Kev with the Harbhajan place and Rampaul bets :ok Harbhajan came in for myself leaving me +3.6 for the first test.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series The second test is upon us tomorrow and there's a couple of bets I like the look of. 4pts - Player Performance Pts: R.Dravid 92 & Over - 5/6 Bet365 Dravid was in excellent form in the first test scoring a ton and 40 odd in the first innings and I expect him to keep that up in the 2nd test. Barring the early chance he gave in the 2nd innings, he looked pretty unmovable and was close to the Dravid of old I feel. He has a wealth of experience of playing in West Indian conditions and even if there is some extra pace and bounce at Bridgetown as expected, you feel Dravid has all the tools to overcome that. Additionally he fields in the slips so edges can always come his way. I expect this to be a normal test match in which 4 innings are played so 92pts looks a reasonable ask for India's form man. 4pts - Batsman 1st Inns Matchbet: VVS Laxman (+1.5) v R.Sarwan - 5/6 Ladbrokes Although VVS didn't contribute in the first test match, he was out to two lazy shots. It is rare for him to go 2 or 3 innings without a solid contribution. On the other hand Sarwan to me looks on his last legs in international cricket, he is now always bogged down at the crease and looks a shadow of his former self. Ishant Sharma also seems to have his number which will not help his case on a quick pitch. For me Laxman is in a better place as a cricketer at the moment and I fancy him to outscore Sarwan in the first innings of the 2nd test.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series And one more. 2pts - Top India Bowler (1st Inns) Ishant Sharma - 3/1 William Hill India are likely to go into this match with a 3-1 combination however the initial plan was to include Munaf Patel ahead of Amit Mishra. But Munaf has been ruled out meaning that India are likely to play rookie seamer Abhimanyu Mithun instead. This further increases the chances of Ishant landing the top bowler bet. He was looking in good rhythm in the 1st test bowling some real unplayable deliveries and given that this pitch is said to be quicker and offer more bounce, that should make Ishant an even more threatening proposition. With Harbhajan failing to look as threatening as expected in the first test, the battle for most wickets is likely to be between the accurate Praveen and Ishant but I'll favour the latter with his extra pace and bounce.

[Leeds Legend]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series

The second test is upon us tomorrow and there's a couple of bets I like the look of. 4pts - Player Performance Pts: R.Dravid 92 & Over - 5/6 Bet365 Dravid was in excellent form in the first test scoring a ton and 40 odd in the first innings and I expect him to keep that up in the 2nd test. Barring the early chance he gave in the 2nd innings, he looked pretty unmovable and was close to the Dravid of old I feel. He has a wealth of experience of playing in West Indian conditions and even if there is some extra pace and bounce at Bridgetown as expected, you feel Dravid has all the tools to overcome that. Additionally he fields in the slips so edges can always come his way. I expect this to be a normal test match in which 4 innings are played so 92pts looks a reasonable ask for India's form man. 4pts - Batsman 1st Inns Matchbet: VVS Laxman (+1.5) v R.Sarwan - 5/6 Ladbrokes Although VVS didn't contribute in the first test match, he was out to two lazy shots. It is rare for him to go 2 or 3 innings without a solid contribution. On the other hand Sarwan to me looks on his last legs in international cricket, he is now always bogged down at the crease and looks a shadow of his former self. Ishant Sharma also seems to have his number which will not help his case on a quick pitch. For me Laxman is in a better place as a cricketer at the moment and I fancy him to outscore Sarwan in the first innings of the 2nd test.

I like the Dravid bet especially. :ok

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Good luck Westy :ok. A couple for me in this test. 4pts A.Barath (+0.5 runs) to beat A.Mukund (1st Inns Only) 5/6 Ladbrokes I quite like Adrian Barath in this match up especially as we've got the tie on our side. Barath beat Mukund in both innings in the first test and beat him by quite a few. I wasn't all that impressed with Mukund in the first test. Admittedly we need to cut him a bit of slack as it was his debut but even so he looked pretty scratchy. Barath looked his flambouyant best and I think we'll see him improve as he goes along given that he's coming back from an injury. The fast, bouncy conditions here are more to Barath's liking than Mukund's so I'll take the West Indian opener to beat his Indian counterpart. 0.5pts ew H.Singh Top India Batsman (1st Inns Only) 25/1 Ladbrokes (1/5 1,2,3) Harbhajan was 2nd in the first innings in Jamaica so that on it's own suggests he's still a big price in this innings. Even in the second innings if we take Dravid's 112 out of the equation then the next best score was 27 which is well within Harbhajan's capability. The wicket at Kensington Oval is quick and quite bouncy so the Indians could struggle again with the bat and with that in mind it could be set up for another Harbhajan cameo to push himself into the top 3 and maybe beyond.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Not very often you win a match bet with a score of 3 but I'll take it. Slow progress betting wise for me in this series but +3.46 overall. Looking good for the Laxman bet Westy. :hope Dravid can produce a 2nd innings like in Jamaica :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Great shouts with Laxman and Sharma, Westy :clap:clap. One more for me. 6pts Lay 2nd Test Draw 1.44 Betfair This price looks a bit on the low side to me. We're going to have to avoid a few showers but the major playing parts of the final two days only have a 30% chance of rain so there's a better than even chance we'll be able to avoid them and that any rain which does come along will pass through quite quickly so I'm confident we'll see a fair amount of play on the remaining two days. When we do see play I think the match will continue to move along at a decent pace. A draw doesn't really suit the Windies who will be looking to level the series while India's batsmen haven't yet convinced me they are happy in these conditions. When the rain does come it will keep the bowlers fresh. There's still 196 scheduled overs left in this test match and with the first innings lasting 68 and all but 74 overs there's plenty of time to avoid some inclement weather and still see a finish to this match. India have a lead of 33 but that will soon increase when the likes of Kohli, Raina and Dhoni get to the crease. Windies will have to go after any target that's left and I'd fancy India's chances of bowling them out on the final day as well so at 1.44 the draw looks way too short to me and well worth a relatively cheap lay here.

[Westy]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Thanks Kev the weather let you down there with the lay bet. Ishant and VVS did the business for me although Dravid missed out meaning I'm +8.96 going into the final test. Was tempted to back India as West Indies don't look like they know how to win at the moment however I can't seem to get any solid info regarding the weather so will leave that alone for now. Instead there's one other I like the look of. 4pts - Player performance Pts: Harbhajan Singh Under 116 - 5/6 Bet365 Having taken Bhajji early on in the series, I am now opposing him in what appears to be a massive line for a bowler who is no where near top form. He covered this line in the first test but that was due to a big knock with the bat, with the ball he has taken just 5 wickets throughout the series. He is lacking bite off the pitch and batsmen are happy to play him off the backfoot making him an easy proposition. A similar performance to the last test match would make it really difficult for him to cover this performance total therefore I'm happy to go against India's main spinner in the 3rd test.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Like the look of that Westy :ok. Showers on all 5 days with regards to the weather.

[BIG X]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series 2 pts - West Indies v India - Draw @ 2.50 PaddyPower Taking into account the time that is due to be lost in this game then the draw seems a decent price to me. India only need a draw to win the series so depending on how the game goes we could see them batting for long periods, taking the draw and claiming the series. With Dravid and Laxman they have players who will quite happily occupy the crease for long periods taking more time out of the game. The West Indies showed a bit more steel in the last match in holding on for a draw, and if Sarwan and Chanderpaul can come to the party then it wont be that easy for India to take the 20 wickets. I do have a REAL concern that wickets have been falling very quickly in this series and the time could easily be made up in this match. However at the current price I am willing to have a small dabble. Bring on the rain :hope

[kevshat]

Just the one for me in this test. 4pts C.Baugh's Performance Pts 71&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 25pts per stumping. This line looks a bit low to me for a keeper who has proven he can bat and who is very efficient behind the stumps. He put together some nice cameos in the ODI series and batted well in the second innings of the last test so I think he will go close to covering this with the bat but he'll get nibbles behind the stumps and with spin taking quite a few wickets on this ground he could easily pick up a stumping with Bishoo going past an edge. Baugh has a couple of solid scoring methods so this line looks a bit low to me.

[ani_lfc]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Havent posted on this site in a while but hoping to get back into cricket betting again now. Was just looking at the markets for this Test and saw one stand out price which may be an error by Bet365 but im going to take it... 5 points S.Chaunderpaul to score over 104.5 Runs @ 3 Bet365 Right now Chaunderpaul is on 73 runs of 201 balls which isnt the best score in terms of strike rate but its a typical Shiv innings. The reason why i find the odds so strange is because the odds of him getting a century are 2.25 and add to that another 5 runs and you are getting odds of 3 which is quite a big jump. Obviously West Indies are 6 wickets down with only Edwards and Bishoo to come in as Rampaul is not playing in this test, however Bishoo is quite a decent batsman for a tail ender with an average of 17.2 and can hopefully defend at one end to let Chanderpual increase the lead for the West Indies. I have betted 5 points which is quite high not because i think Chaunderpaul has a good chance of getting to 105 runs but because of the value in the odds.

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Good call ani, been a decent last day this. Block, block and some more block. :p Not aftertiming but I took some of the bigger prices about the draw when 8 down and now regretting not trading out when the draw went very short...:puke Still all three results possible here!

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Great shout with Chanderpaul ani :clap:clap. Baugh's performance was in on day 2 of the match so I end the series +4.03 which could've been a lot more but for a dropped catch and rain at the wrong times in the first two tests. Good work by everyone else in here as always :notworthy:notworthy.

[ani_lfc]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Thanks Spooner, took a hell of a long time for Shiv to get the required runs but was well worth the wait and watch! Going for another one which is more of my heart then head betting but still think its worth a decent bet.. 2.5 Points India to win the 3rd Test @ 3 Coral India have been set a target of 180 of 47 and Mukund has just fell. India still have a number of class batsman to come in, a few of them from the so called IPL generation so can go aggresive which still isnt needed at the moment when a requred run rate of just under 4 an over.

[Leeds Legend]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series I've no idea whether India will have a go at this. 160 needed with 40 overs left in the game, I can see another ''we murdered 'em'' scenario here. I had a nice little win on the rugby league so inclined to have a pop at 5/2 on BF.

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series India don't need the victory here BUT they can afford to lose one or two more batsmen, so Vijay may step it up after tea knowing Laxman and co are to come, and they can easily see off the remaining overs. 161 off a min of 40, the price is tempting. Also you have to factor in WI over rate, I think they finished around 11pm last night which if the light holds up again then that shouldn't be a problem but they can slow it down. I'm leaving my position on the draw at the moment, if Vijay come out and shows aggressive shots, I think it may be time to get out. If Vijay was to go then you'd have Dravid & Laxman at the crease and I would imagine the draw would go short then.

[ani_lfc]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series Even if Vijay goes, you still have Laxman, Kohli & Raina to come in who all 3 can be attacking when needed. You also have to remember that the likes or Vijay & Raina are playing for theyre places in the England tour as well, also Kohli was left out so he has a massive point to prove to the selectors, what better then playing a solid innings and helping India win today. Its obvious that Dravid will play the entire innings out with the rest of the batsman looking to play the aggresive role, however I think if it comes down to Dohni coming in then India will certainly play for the draw, but who knows by then India might just need 4/5 an over to win and we all know what MSD can do for India when its needed. The price at the moment on Bet365 is 3.2 which i think is well worth taking...

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series I'm out, clear intention from India here now...another good call ani, easily tradable now

[Spooner]

India declare at drinks break :loon well, they didn't need to win I guess...

[BIG X]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series

2 pts - West Indies v India - Draw @ 2.50 PaddyPower Taking into account the time that is due to be lost in this game then the draw seems a decent price to me. India only need a draw to win the series so depending on how the game goes we could see them batting for long periods, taking the draw and claiming the series. With Dravid and Laxman they have players who will quite happily occupy the crease for long periods taking more time out of the game. The West Indies showed a bit more steel in the last match in holding on for a draw, and if Sarwan and Chanderpaul can come to the party then it wont be that easy for India to take the 20 wickets. I do have a REAL concern that wickets have been falling very quickly in this series and the time could easily be made up in this match. However at the current price I am willing to have a small dabble. Bring on the rain :hope

Didn't expect this to come in today, but I will gladly take it. Well done to all winners and contributors to the thread. :clap Roll on July 21st for the England series.

[citizen frank]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series i got 7/5 the draw with blue square.mind you i couldnt believe my eyes when india needed about a ton in 20 overs with 8 wickets left,cheers india ill have one on you:beer

[Leeds Legend]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series That's bizarre. I traded India at around 5/2 then laid at 4/7, thinking they might have a go in the last ten overs but fancied having a punt on some football so needed the bankroll. Not impressed at all with them chucking it in before the last hour. They need to scrap this crappy rule and just play the match to it's conclusion. As for the series as a whole, I think the West Indies have some light at the end of the tunnel, but the board has got to go. Get Gayle and Bravo back in the side and they'll have a half decent team. I worry for their batting though.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - Test Series

i got 7/5 the draw with blue square.mind you i couldnt believe my eyes when india needed about a ton in 20 overs with 8 wickets left' date='cheers india ill have one on you:beer[/quote'] Frank can you post your bets up before the event or at worst when they are taken rather than when they've come in. That way others can follow if they so choose. Posting after the event only gets people's backs up which isn't what we're here for. Ta :ok