Friends Life T20 2012

[kevshat]

Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Second semi final bets. This one.....

4pts Hampshire to beat Somerset 13/10 Bet365 Somerset have had terrible injuries to their bowling attack though and they look weaker than usual in that area so with nothing usually between the two sides that could be a massive difference and something which edges this second semi final into the 2010 winner’s favour. Full preview here: http://www.punterslounge.com/hampshire-vs-somerset-betting-hampshire-can-take-advantage-of-the-injuries-to-the-somerset-bowling-attack

and these two. 5pts Somerset Most 6s 11/10 Coral Somerset are a big hitting side and they have a few batsmen who like hitting the ball straight. Kieswetter, Levi, Trescothick, Buttler and Morkel if he is released can all hit a long ball straight down the ground and those five alone could cover Hampshire's six hitting without mentioning the likes of Peter Trego and big Kev O'Brien who can also hit it a long way. Hampshire have no Glenn Maxwell on this finals day so their main six hitter is out of contention and most of the six hitters the Royals have hit it to mid-wicket and cow corner which will be the longest boundaries here. Only really Mascarenhas hits it dead straight and he'll be down at 7 or even 8 in this line up which isn't ideal if opposing Somerset in the 6 hitting match. I'm not that stupid though, not with the hitting talent that this Somerset side have at their disposal so I'll take Somerset to hit the most 6's here. 1pt ew A.Morkel Top Somerset Batsman 10/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) As I mentioned earlier in the tournament when I took Morkel in a top bat, South Africa don't shell out thousands of pounds on overseas players in this tournament for them to dwindle down at 7 or 8 in the batting order. Morkel will be up in the top five for sure and when he's in he'll be a danger to everyone. The key for Morkel here is he'll miss the Mascarenhas and Dawson spells which will be the dangerous one in terms of being got out by good balls. Morkel's such a clean hitter of a cricket ball and a good hitter of it straight down the ground that if he gets in he will score very quickly and no score will be beyond him. It's not yet certain that South Africa will release him to play in this match but just in case they do I have to take the chance he plays and goes well at 10/1 which is probably double the price I could ever have him as here.

[fishy25]

Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Been away for a little while on holiday and stuff but back for finals day so and hoping the rain stays away on what is the best day in the cricket calendar. Currently sitting on +41.07 as well as being on Sussex to take the trophy at 11/1 today and Luke Wright still has a slim chance of topping the run charts. At worst, he should get an each way return. Like Kev, I'm taking a few finals day bets on where I've tried to look for the value really. I'll post those up now then move onto the matches themselves in another post. Scott Styris Top Finals Day Batsman- 40/1 Bodog- (1/10 E/W) 1/5 1-3 Jos Buttler Top Finals Day Batsman- 20/1 Bodog- (1/10 E/W) 1/5 1-3 Gary Ballance Top Finals Day Batsman- 66/1 Bodog- (1/10 E/W) 1/5 1-3 Granted it might happen that only one of these guys is going to get the chance to play 2 matches but I'm happy to take the risk at these prices. I'll start with the two men from overseas and just quite how Scott Styris and Gary Ballance have warranted such high prices is beyond me. They may not be batting at 1,2 or 3, but I'd be hugely surprised if they didn't get a decent amount of overs at the crease and that's all these guys need really to fill their boots. There's always the chance that either guy could be bumped up the order if their side is falling behind the rate as well but in their own right in the middle order, they are two highly class batsman. In terms of what they've done so far in the competition, they've scored around the same amount of runs but we all saw just what Scott Styris can do against Gloucestershire in the quarter finals where he smashed an unbeaten century off about 10 balls :lol He plays T20 cricket around the world now and he is so experienced and such a familiar face to finals day that he could well go well today and show us again just how good he is. Gary Ballance hasn't had the best of T20 seasons but in saying that, it hasn't been a bad one for him either. An average of over 30 isn't bad whatsoever in this format and considering at times he wouldn't have had much time at the crease I think it's a pretty good return. In the CB40 competition though, he's been consistently Yorkshire's best batsman and on a few occasions he's really impressed in front of the Sky cameras. Jonny Bairstow has been released to play today but I'm going to back Ballance to overshadow the England man, and if Yorkshire beat Sussex, I think Ballance has got a decent short at scoring plenty of runs today. My last pick is Jos Buttler and any regular cricket watchers will know just how good this boy is. He'll be looking to impress ahead of the International T20s and the World T20 and whenever I see him, he just continues to impress me. He'll hit anywhere around the wicket and with the aggressive nature of those above him, there's every chance he will be at the crease early doors, especially considering Somerset's dreadful finals day record. He has every shot in the book and can adjust his game to every situation and whilst the focus may be on Levi, Trescothick and Kieswetter before him, I think Butter is good value to go better than the before mentioned players. Will Beer Top Finals Day Bowler- 22/1 Bodog- (1/10) Liam Dawson Top Finals Day Bowler- 12/1 Bodog- (1/10) Like Kev, I too think spinners are the way to go here. The price that Kev has got on Dawson looks huge though considering I could only get 12/1 on him but I do think he's got a pretty good shot of delivering today. I think spinners will be key today on this wicket as they usually are in T20 but today especially considering the lack of help for the pace men yesterday early doors. Dawson opens the bowling for Hampshire and that will give him a good shot of taking early wickets as the batsman look to make the most of the powerplay. Especially against Somerset where the likes of Levi and Kieswetter will try to bash everything out of the park, Dawson may be able to nick a couple of early ones today and with the way he's bowled recently, I'll back him to go well today. Will Beer is another guy I like to go well today in what I think is a day that Sussex will go well. Beer has really proven himself to be a force in one day cricket, so much so that he keeps Panesar well out of contention in this format. He is generally pretty tough to get away for too many and that forces batsman to really try and do something different which usually gets them a bit unstuck really. Michael Yardy will open the attack for his side which maybe explains why Yardy's price is shorter than Beer but in my eyes, Will Beer is a class act with the ball and he's a good price to top the wicket table come tonight. Total Finals Day Runs Over 850.5- 5/6 Bodog- (2/10) I'm being extremely cautious with this bet as at some point, there's every chance of some interruptions which isn't great for this kind of bet. The good thing with this market is that if any of the matches are reduced, this bet is immediately voided which has tempted me into taking it. When you look at the face of it though, we're actually looking at an average of about 142 in every innings which in T20 with this kind of batting talent is nothing really. All 4 sides are heavily equipped in the batting department and all 4 sides have one or two players who if they get going, can play some very special knocks. Like I've said, if overs are reduced, we get the bet voided but if we got the full 120 overs today, I expect this line to be covered in truth.

[fishy25]

Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Decided against taking anything in the first semi just so I can see how the pitch is playing and what not so hopefully Sussex can win through to the final for my own sake.

[fishy25]

Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Sussex were really poor there unfortunately. Yorkshire look a tasty price for Kev though so fingers crossed in the final whoever they play. I've taken a couple for the second semi but not going mad at all really. Somerset (Most 6's) vs Hampshire- Evens BetVictor- (4/10) Not a great deal I can add to what's been said. In Levi, Kieswetter, Trescothick, Trego, Hildreth, Morkel and Buttler, you have 5 or 6 genuine 6 hitters and that's excluding O'Brien as well who can whack a long ball. Compton isn't playing today and that's not such a bad thing for this bet as he's the only real stroke maker you'd say in the side so he'll be replaced by a guy who will look to hit boundaries you'd imagine. Hampshire have a couple of guys in Mascarenhas, Ervine and Vince who can clear the rope but a couple of those guys come in down the order and they will be hoping that McKenzie will be shepherding the innings and through that comes the lower risk of 6's occurring. Glenn Maxwell isn't around today who has been superb this season and attacking the bowlers and all in all, looking at the 2 sides, I fancy Somerset to win the 6's match. Marcus Trescothick (-1.5 runs) to beat Simon Katich- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Fancy the Somerset skipper in this battle really. I presume it will be the same role for him as against Essex in the quarter final which will see him bat at 3, but with Levi and Kieswetter before him, there's every chance he'll be in early on given the attacking nature of the 2 above him. He's missed a ton of cricket this season and he'll certainly be looking to make amends. Not only has he missed plenty of cricket this summer, but he knows more than anyone else of the disappointment Somerset have gone through in the history of finals day and he's sure to be pumped for this one today. He comes into today after a century in his most recent innings as well. I can't help but feel this format doesn't entirely suit Simon Katich really. He is undoubtedly a class player but the hectic manner of T20, and the pressure to score your runs quickly I feel goes against everything Katich is about. He's been in really poor form of late recently for a guy of his quality and was out for a duck in the recent one day game against today's opponent. Just think this handicap is too low really and given just how explosive the Somerset skipper is in one day cricket, I fancy him to cover the handicap here.

[fishy25]

Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Really poor finals day for me in truth and that was underlined by the total runs for the day falling just 2 short. Thankfully the tournament before today has been a pretty decent one for me and Steven Croft was 4th in the run charts for the tournament so that brings a tidy return in the only bright thing to come from me today really. Overall then with all the outrights settled, I finish on +42.57pts which if given at the start of the tournament, I would have taken. Some really good shouts throughout and Kev's shout on Miller today topped off a really profitable competition for us on the whole I think. Enjoy those winnings mate. ;):clap

[kevshat]

Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Cheers bud. Not sure what it is about finals day but it often delivers big profits for me and happily that was the case on Saturday with Miller top scoring. That made up for not having any joy with the outrights pre-tournament. In the end I was +28.14 for finals day which could've been a lot more with a bit more luck in the first semi final but I'll take it. Means I end the competition +60.30pts for the competition as a whole. Fishy definitely deserves a major shout out for his record in the tournament. T20 isn't the easiest format to bet on at the best of times so to come out with over 40pts of profit with most match betting is a serious good achievement. Well done mate :clap:clap. Well done to everyone else in profit over the tournament too.