Unitech Cup Cricket

[kevshat]

Today sees the starts of the Unitech Cup. It's a tri-series between Sri Lanka, India and South Africa. Outright odds.

Best odds/All odds
Sri Lanka	2	1.83	1.83	1.72	1.88
India	2.15	2.62	2.62	2.62	2.8
South Africa	7	5	5	6.5	7

10pts India to win Unitech Cup 13/8 Stan James I see this tournament as a straight match between Sri Lanka and India. South Africa have all sorts of injury problems and 3 key players absent in Kemp, Smith and Kallis. They also lack the slow bowlers needed on the wickets in Sri Lanka. So having dismissed South Africa we have the hosts Sri Lanka, who have a very good record at home and India who have built up a reputation that makes many believe they are the best 1 day side in the World. India have an array of batting talent. Sehwag is as good an opener as you'll find in World cricket, he'll be ably supported by Rahul Dravid and then the middle order containing Yuvrag Singh, Tendulkar and Kaif is deadly. After them India have the exciting Mahendra Dhoni so they really do have heavy run scorers. Their bowling attack is slightly weak in the seam department but Harbhajan Singh will cause problems with the ball as will Sehwag who is bowling very well at present. Sri Lanka also have a good side, they will be full of confidence having beaten England 5-0 in England less than 2 months ago. In Jayasuriya they have their own big hitting opener and a good middle order in Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Dilshan. Their bowling on paper is stronger than India's but key man Muralitharan doesn't have a good record in 1 dayers in his country. In what should be a 2 horse race India are a big price. If their batting lineup plays to it's potential then they are booked in to go well and I'll take the visiting side to win this tournament. 1st match is Sri Lanka vs South Africa and I'll be back shortly with bets for that.

[kevshat]

Re: Unitech Cup Cricket Match prices.

Best odds/All odds
South Africa	2.62	2.62	2.8	2.5	2.7	2.62	2.62	2.5	2.8	2.62	2.9	2.65
Sri Lanka	1.44	1.44	1.44	1.5	1.45	1.44	1.44	1.5	1.44	1.44	1.45	1.48

I think Sri Lanka will win but they are too short so I'm raiding the side markets. 10pts Sri Lanka (-3.5 wickets/24.5 runs) to beat South Africa 10/11 Sporting Odds Sri Lanka come into this match on fire. They won the 1 day series in England 5-0 and have followed that up with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the test series. Boucher captains the Springboks in this series. Sri Lanka's batting lineup were on fire in England, scoring centuries and passing 300 almost at will. With Vaas, Murali, Malinga and co in their bowling attack that many runs will always be enough. Then in the test series Jayawardene continued that form scoring over 500 runs in his 3 innings. South Africa will just want to get this series done and get home. Their squad is not suited to Sri Lankan pitches. The strongest part of their batting - Herschelle Gibbs has an indifferent record here and the rest of the lineup is made up of youth and inexperience compared to their opponents. Makhaya Ntini - a key cog in SA's bowling lineup is very ineffective on the slow pitches out here and without a quality spinner South Africa will always be chasing this game. Sri Lanka are in such good form that I can't oppose them. I think they'll win quite easily so this handicap doesn't worry me. 10pts S.Pollock's Performance Pts 41&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch, 20pts per wicket. Shaun Pollock is a great all-rounder who has a good record in Sri Lanka with the bat and the ball. He'll take wickets with the new ball and can score good runs in the lower order. He can achieve this target with bat or ball so the overs is an obvious choice. 10pts S.Jayasuriya's Performance Pts 50&Over 5/6 Bet365 Sanath Jayasuriya was in supreme form in England with the bat, he's as hard hitting an opener as you'll find and anything short or wide will disappear to the boundary. He's more than capable of knocking this target off with the bat. Should he not though, he's sure to bowl a few overs, possibly 10 and his spin can get wickets too. I strongly fancy Jayasuriya to cover this spread. 5pts ew AB.DeVilliers Top South Africa Bat 9/2 Boylesports (1/4 1,2,3) De Villiers was South Africa's top scorer in the test series. I think one day cricket suits him more as he can play his shots more. I expect him to bat quite high up in the order so he'll have lots of time to score runs. This isn't South Africa's strongest line up and we are getting a nice price which I'm happy to take.