Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy

[xxdaxxbombxx]

Should be a good month of cricket ahead. Generally Its been a tournament where the underdogs play pretty well, most noticably West Indies won it in '04 and New Zealand in '00. I wouldnt be to surprised to see some upsets again this year, New Zealand could be value at $13, but they could struggle to get through the first round as they havent played much cricket lately and could be quite rusty. Unusually they have a full strength side and could beat any team on thier day... My pick of the tournament at this stage is the home team, India to make the final at $2.10. The two top teams in thier pool are Australia and England, Either Australia or India should win this group as Englands one day side resembles their WC football team with a couple of extra injuries...

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy It should indeed be a good month of cricket and is a perfect starter for the 7 month marathon of top class International cricket ahead this summer. Outright Odds

Best odds/All odds
Australia	3.25	3.25	3.25	3.25	3.25	3.5	3.25	3.25	3.5	3.25	3.25	3.25	3.4	3.25	3.35	3.35	3.25
India	4.5	4.5	4.5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4.5	5	5.5	5	5.4	5.5	4.5
Pakistan	5.5	5.5	6.5	6	5	5.25	5	5	4.5	5.5	6.5	5.5	5	5.5	6.6	8	4.75
Sri Lanka	7.5	6.5	7	8	7.5	6.5	7	7.5	7	7.5	7	7.5	6.5	6.5	7.4	7.6	7.5
South Africa	9.5	9	7.5	7	9	9	8	8	10	8	7.5	10	9	9	11	10	8.5
New Zealand	12	13	10	11	11	12	11	11	13	13	10	12	11	12	14	13.5	11
England	12	13	11	13	11	13	13	13	13	13	11	11	13	13	15.5	15	12
West Indies	13	11	11	15	13	13	15	12	13	13	11	11	11	15	16.5	17	13
Bangladesh	101	101	101	101	81	67	101	101	251	67	101	101	201	151	200	400	201
Zimbabwe	301	501	501	301	201	251	501	251	501	251	501	1001	301	251	500	510	251
Each-way terms:		2 at 1/3	2 at 1/3	2 at 1/3			2 at 1/3	2 at 1/3	2 at 1/3	2 at 1/3	2 at 1/3	2 at 1/3

Schedule

October 2006
Sat 7	1st Qualifying Match - Bangladesh v Sri Lanka Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sun 8	2nd Qualifying Match - West Indies v Zimbabwe Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Tue 10	3rd Qualifying Match - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Wed 11	4th Qualifying Match - Bangladesh v West Indies Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Fri 13	5th Qualifying Match - Bangladesh v Zimbabwe Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Sat 14	6th Qualifying Match - Sri Lanka v West Indies Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Sun 15	1st Match - India v England Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Mon 16	2nd Match - New Zealand v South Africa Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Tue 17	3rd Match - Pakistan v TBC Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Q1 qualifier
Wed 18	4th Match - Australia v TBC Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai Q2 qualifier
Fri 20	5th Match - New Zealand v TBC Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai Q1 qualifier
Sat 21	6th Match - Australia v England Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Tue 24	7th Match - South Africa v TBC Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Q1 qualifier
Wed 25	8th Match - New Zealand v Pakistan Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Thu 26	9th Match - India v TBC Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Q2 qualifier
Fri 27	10th Match - Pakistan v South Africa Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sat 28	11th Match - England v TBC Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Q2 qualifier
Sun 29	12th Match - India v Australia Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
November 2006
Wed 1	1st Semi Final - TBC v TBC Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Thu 2	2nd Semi Final - TBC v TBC Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Sun 5	Final - TBC v TBC Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

The Format 1st round sees a group of 4 sides ranked 7-10 on the ICC 1 day rankings. This group consists of Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Everyone plays each other once and the top 2 progress into the tournament proper. The 2nd round sees the 8 sides split into 2 groups: Group A Group B Australia Pakistan India South Africa England New Zealand 2nd in 1st group Winners of 1st group Top 2 in each group go through to the semis. All matches are 50 overs with the 3 powerplays as normal and all matches are day/night matches.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Preview Australia are the current World Champions but their record in the ICC Trophy isn't good. Their squad is good and they showed when it counted in the recent tri-series between themselves, India and West Indies that they can still produce when they need to. Concerns for me are their squad is aging, particularly in their batting and they lack a real good quality spinner. The other concern from a punting point of view other than their short price is with the Ashes less than 6 weeks away when they begin their assault here, will they be all out to win? I'd suggest probably not. Key Men - Adam Gilchrist & Brett Lee Best Odds - 5/2 Expekt Predicted Finish - Semi Finalists. Bangladesh, along with Zimbabwe are going to be the whipping boys of the tournament. Barring a huge upset they won't make it into the tournament proper. They do not have enough top class batsmen to compete and apart from Rafique there's nothing to speak of in their bowling attack either. Truth be told they aren't really good enough for this level and will be competing with Zimbabwe for 3rd place in the Preliminary group. Key Men - Shahriar Nafees & Mohammed Rafique Best Odds - 250/1 Premierbet Predicted Finish - Preliminary Group England come into the ICC Trophy in poor overall ODI form but did show signs of a spark of life towards the end of the summer. Back comes captain Andrew Flintoff and pace bowler James Anderson from long term injuries. Steve Harmison is fit to take his place in the squad too. The major loss is the absence of Trescothick. England have indicated this will be a warm up for the Ashes but that might take enough pressure off them for them to be competitive. England have the batting power with Flintoff and Pietersen to score heavy runs assisted by a good spine in the shape of Collingwood, Bell and Strauss. Jon Lewis has taken wickets throughout his ODI career and if the other 3 seamers contribute with the ball England are not without a chance in this. Key Men - Andrew Flintoff & Kevin Pietersen Best Odds - 12/1 Generally Predicted Finish - Semi Finalists. India, the host nation are many people's choice to win the event. I have to say I don't subscribe to that. Their ODI form since demolishing England hasn't been that good. A point proved perfectly by their failure to qualify for the final of the recent tri-series between themselves, West Indies and Australia. They followed that up by losing to the India A team in the challenger series earlier this week. Take Sachin Tendulkar out of their side and a lack of runs is their biggest problem, particularly in their middle order. I was surprised Sreesanth wasn't included in their squad as a potential seam attack of Munaf Patel, Pathan and Aarkar looks a bit weak to me. I like Patel but Pathan's in no form with the ball and Agarkar is very much hit and miss. India probably have the most talented squad in the tournament but the pressure will be on to deliver with no real form to fall back on. Key Men - Sachin Tendulkar & Irfan Pathan Best Odds - 9/2 Totesport Predicted Finish - 1st Group Stage New Zealand are always an underrated side on the World stage. In Stephen Fleming they have the world's best captain and as an all-round squad they miss nothing. County cricket followers will have seen Lou Vincent, Hamish Marshall and Scott Styris play well all summer and then there's Nathan Astle who's been NZ's rock in recent years. In the bowling department Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori are not out of place at this level and they are ably supported by Styris and Oram. Individually they are not the best side but collectively they get the job done and I think with sides not always taking this as seriously as they might, the Kiwi's have a great chance here. Key Men - Shane Bond & Stephen Fleming Best Odds - 12/1 Betfred Predicted Finish - Winners Pakistan are very much a side I like but I detect that all is not well in their camp. First of all they were hit quite badly by their captain Inzamam getting a 4 match ban ruling him out of the competition unless Pakistan make the final, then Younis Khan refused the captaincy so 3rd choice Mohammed Yousuf will take charge for this event. My main worry with Pakistan, aside from their off field issues is a lack of in form depth. In the summer it was basically a case of if Younis, Yousuf or Inzi didn't score runs neither did Pakistan. Players like Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez and Kamran AKmal must come to the party here in the absence of Inzi. A lack of potency in the bowling attack is another concern. Mohammed Asif and SHoaib Akthar are an excellent new ball combination but Rana Naved looked very much out of touch. Pakistan are another side who have all the talent needed but at a short price with so many issues they don't look an attractive bet. Key Men - Shahid Afridi & Shoaib Akthar Best Odds - 11/2 Sporting Odds Predicted Finish - 1st Group Stage South Africa are a bit like Spain in football, they have all the talent, a good squad but when it comes to delivering it on the big stage they go AWOL. With players like Kallis, Gibbs, Smith and Pollock in their ranks they shouldn't be underachieving like they do. Problems for South Africa will be the lack of cricket captain Smith has had recently and a poor record on the sub-continent. Lacking a decent spinner doesn't help them as on these featherbed pitches pace is no luxury. They have the squad to deliver here and the right group but again just like with Spain in football looking elsewhere would be the safer option. Key Men - Graeme Smith & Jacques Kallis Best Odds - 9/1 Stan James Predicted Finish - 1st Group Stage Sri Lanka have a very talented squad for this tournament covering every area which needs covering to win this event. Unfortunately for them they must go through the preliminary group so in order to win they will have to play 8 matches in a short space of time in the extreme heat predicted in India. That won't help them. Interestingly they have retained Jayawardene as captain despite Atapattu returning, That's a positive move for me. Along with Jayawardene, Jayasuriya and Sangakkara can be relied on to score runs with good contributions expected from Dilshan and Atapattu. Vaas and Murali are a match for anyone with the ball and if Malinga, Bandara and Fernando can back those 2 up the Sri Lanka will have a real tilt at the Trophy. Key Men - Kumar Sangakarra & Mutiah Muralitharan Best Odds - 7/1 Blue Square Predicted Finish - Runners Up West Indies, the defending champions come into this event with some good form behind them. Like NZ they are a side who get very little credit where it's due and can beat anyone on their day. Any side with Chris Gayle, Sarwan and Lara in their side need to be respected. Their bowling attack could be stronger though and it's this area which I feel will cost them a successful defence of their trophy. Lacking a decent spinner or an out and out paceman gives Lara no options for wickets in the field and teams could get away from them. Like Sri Lanka in order to win the event they will have to play 8 matches in such a short space of time which is another reason to pass over the West Indies. Key Men - Chris Gayle & Brian Lara Best Odds - 14/1 VC Predicted Finish - 1st Group Stage Zimbabwe are out of their depth at this level. They may run sides closer than expected but even winning a match is going to be an enormous task for them. They don't have the strength or the quality needed to be a force at this level. Matsikenyiri is a good player among a poor side but for Zimbabwe to make any impact sides will have to help them out by playing poorly. That won't happen so Zimbabwe are not worth consdiering at all. Key Men - Stuart Matsikenyiri & Terry Duffin Best Odds - 1000/1 Predicted Finish - Preliminary Group

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy I'll just do the main outright bet for now and will come back with more tomorrow. 4pts ew New Zealand to win ICC Champions Trophy 12/1 Betfred New Zealand have a very underrated squad. Their squad consists of Fleming, Astle, Bond, Franklin, Fulton, Gillespie, McCullum, Marshall, Mills, Oram, Patel, Styris, Vettori, Vincent. They have a good batting line-up with aggressive batsmen and solid dependable batsmen alike and they have a good mix in their bowling. Shane Bond is rated the 3rd best bowler in ODI cricket currently and Daniel Vettori is a good performer at this level. Franklin, Mills, Oram and Styris are all good backup's with the ball. They have a nice group which they can certainly qualify from and from there we are 1 game away from a payout. Internationally NZ haven't played much cricket recently so they arrive in India the freshest and in the extreme conditions that could be a significant advantage. NZ won this in 2000. Stephen Fleming is no stranger to captaining sides to trophies and with doubts surrounding the market leaders I'm happy to put my faith in the Kiwi's.

[xxdaxxbombxx]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy New Zealand each way is a great bet at the long odds, although I still think the lack of cricket lately could cost them early in the tournament. Also Im a bit worried about the deth of bowling with Styro and Oram as they both have bowled very little of late. But then the class of Vettori and Bond could leave them with a lot less responsibility

[davidmphill]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Great write ups Kev, interesting to see you've gone with the Kiwi's. Looking forward to the tournament.

[Cloud]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy I think the West Indies are a bit of value here. I know there is a risk backing a team in the qualifying round - but if they get through this (which realistically they will), I think it will stand them in good stead for the rest of the tournament - they will have an advantage in terms of getting used to the conditions etc - they will be playing their 4th game when the other teams are playing their first.. They had some promising results in the recent tri-series with Australia and India - losing out to Australia in the final. Also, being the holders, there might be an added incentive to retain the trophy. 17 on betfair looks a touch on the long side to me.

[davidmphill]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Agree with you here Cloud. I was thinking myself about the Windies as an outsider but you just don't know which team is going to turn up on the day. They can one day beat Australia and then the next day lose t Bangladesh. Too unpredictable for me to part cash on but they could do well in this.

[rugbylad]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Superb write-ups there Kev :ok :clap :clap :clap

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Cheers guys, let's hope we can make some dosh from this tournament. Cloud, I completely agree with what you've said mate. I had Sri Lanka/NZ and WI on my shortlist but I just think NZ and SL have a bit more all round quality and it would look like WI will go in the Australia/India/England group which would be tricky to get out of. More outright bets for me! Top Tournament Batsman and Bowler now :dude . 2pts ew M.Hussey Top Tournament Batsman 20/1 Ladbrokes (1/4 1,2,3,4) Preliminary group matches do not count in this market. Mike Hussey is in excellent form in ODI cricket for Australia. His superb start to his International career has propelled him pretty quickly up to no1 on the ODI batting rankings showing his class. Although Australia have a good batting lineup Hussey still gets lots of time at the crease and despite regularly batting at no6 and 7 he still averages over 80 in 1 day cricket with 2 centuries to his name. The 31 year old was 2006 ODI Player of the Year and in his 1st major tournament he'll be out to show his skills on the worldwide stage and given his talents and batting statistics is far too high a price for this. 5pts B.Lee Top Tournament Bowler 3/1 Sporting Odds This bet is taken from Sporting Odds choice of 13. Lee's rivals are Shoaib Akthar, Glenn McGrath, Shane Bond, Irfan Pathan, Nathan Bracken, Harbhajan Singh, Shaun Pollock, Steve Harmison, Daniel Vettori, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Rana Naved. Brett Lee is in awesome form with the ball and is frightening to face when the batsmen's job is to try and score runs. He has over 250 ODI wickets at an average of 22 per wicket and averages a wicket every 28 balls. With Australia expected to go deep into the tournament, Lee will have lots of overs to bowl. He showed last month how he can rip through the Indian batting order and they will be in opposition to him in the group stage here. For my money he's the best bowler in World cricket right now and I'm happy to back him even at a relatively short price.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy The outright bets keep coming! Top team batsmen now. Top Aussie

Best odds/All odds
Ponting, R	3.75	3.75	3.5	3.75	3.5	4	3.25	3.75	3.5
Gilchrist, A	3.75	3.75	4.5	4.5	4.5	5	5	5.5	5.4
Hussey, M	7	7	6	7	7	6.5	5.5	6	6.4
Clarke, M	7.5	8	8	8	8.5	7.5	9	7	9.2
Katich, S	6.5	7	7	6	7	5.5	9	8	9.8
Martyn, D	10	9	9	8	8.5	7.5	9	9	9.6
Symonds, A	8	7	8	8	8	7.5	9	10	9.6
Watson, S	15	11	13	13	13	17	10	10	16.5
Hogg, B	101	81	101	101	101	41	51	-	-
Lee, B	101	81	101	101	101	81	51	-	-
Clark, S	-	-	-	-	251	-	NR	-	-
Bracken, N	301	201	251	201	201	151	251	-	-
Johnson, M	301	201	251	201	201	151	101	-	-
Cullen, D	501	151	-	201	-	151	51	-	-
MacGrath, G	1001	501	501	501	751	501	501	-	-
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/4	3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

5pts ew M.Hussey Top Austrlian Bat 6/1 Ladbrokes (1/4 1,2,3) As I've explained in the Hussey Top Tournament Bat bet he is in superb form right now and has settled into International cricket with no problems at all. This price is very big considering what he provide to the Aussie side and I don't see him not making the top 3 and as I said before, there's every chance he'll outscore everyone. Top Bangladesh batsman

Best odds/All odds
Nafees, S	5	5	4.5	5.5	4
Ashraful, M	6	5.5	6	5	6
Bashar, H	5	6	6	5.5	6
Ahmed, A	7	7	7	6.5	8
Hasan, S	8	8	9	7.5	8
Saleh, R	9.5	8	6	9	7.5
Reza, F	9	11	9	13	12
Hossain, M	13	13	10	15	10
Mashud, K	17	13	13	7.5	13
Rafique, M	19	21	21	26	17
Mortaza, M	34	34	34	101	26
Razzaq, A	81	101	101	101	34
Hossain, S	101	101	201	201	101
Rasel, S	101	101	201	251	101
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4

4pts S.Nafees Top Bangladesh Batsman 9/2 Skybet Bangladesh vice-captain Shahriar Nafees is one of Bangladesh's best batsmen. In their last ODI he hit a match-winning century to beat Zimbabwe and has 5 half centuries to his name too as well as a test century. As an opening batsman and a left handed batsman he'll have 1st use of any wicket and has his fate in his own hands. Bangladesh lack good quality, consistant batsman but in Nafees they certainly have one. His ODI career average of 33 is among the best of the Bangladeshi's and if he averaged that in this tournament he will be close to top scoring.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Top England Batsman

Best odds/All odds
Pietersen, K	3.25	3.75	3.75	3.5	3.5	4	3.25	3.85
Strauss, A	5	4	4.5	5	5	5	5	5
Bell, I	5	5	4.5	5	5	5.5	4.5	4.9
Flintoff, A	7	7	7	7	7	7.5	5.5	8.4
Collingwood, P	8	7	8	8	8	6.5	9	8.8
Joyce, E	9	11	11	8	9	9	11	12
Dalrymple, J	15	13	15	15	17	11	15	17.5
Yardy, M	21	19	21	21	17	15	26	28
Clarke, R	34	26	26	26	29	21	26	-
Read, C	34	34	34	26	34	21	41	34
Lewis, J	201	151	201	101	201	201	151	-
Mahmood, S	101	101	201	101	201	101	101	-
Harmison, S	251	201	201	101	251	201	151	-
Anderson, J	501	251	501	201	501	151	501	-
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/4	3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

4pts A.Strauss Top England Batsman 4/1 Stan James Andrew Strauss finished the summer in good form for England. With no Trescothick out here he is going to have to make sure he plays slightly more aggressively which is when I feel he's a better batsman. He'll be disappointed to miss out on the captaincy but will want to show how strong he is by making runs and forcing the selectors hands should the captaincy position come up again. Ever since he entered international cricket he's been a solid performer for England and he's a nice price to be the top scorer for his country in this tournament. Top Indian Batsman

Best odds/All odds
Tendulkar, S	3	3.25	3.25	3.25	3	3	2.87	3.45
Dravid, R	4.5	4	4.5	4	4.5	4.5	5	5.1
Sehwag, V	5	5	5	5	5.5	5.5	6	5.2
Singh, Y	7.5	7	7.5	7	7.5	7	8	8.2
Kaif, M	13	11	10	10	11	11	11	11.5
Dhoni, M	12	11	13	13	11	11	10	14.5
Raina, S	13	11	13	13	15	13	12	15
Mongia, D	13	13	15	15	13	15	13	16.5
Pathan, I	17	15	13	13	15	13	17	20
Agarkar, A	126	81	101	81	101	81	67	-
Powar, R	126	81	101	101	101	81	51	-
Singh, H	151	126	101	101	201	101	101	-
Singh, R	501	301	201	251	251	251	201	-
Patel, M	1001	301	201	251	251	251	201	-
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/4	3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

6pts S.Tendulkar Top Indian Batsman 9/4 Ladbrokes Sachin Tendulkar has come back to this Indian side from injury in sublime form. He hit a majestic 141* against WI last month and scored another century in a warm up match last week. He's also hit some 50's in his comeback too. He's in great form right now and a Sachin in great form spells danger for the rest. He's opening the innings now which suits him as he can take advantage of the powerplays and as a player who always produces on the big stage Sachin is sure to go well in the ICC.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Enough of the short prices for now. Here's a few at bigger prices ;) Top Kiwi

:bg_popupOptionTable('Default.aspx?market=25621105&view=all', '2', '0')'>Best odds/All odds	:bg_a(1,94303115,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,93504235,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94534708,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,93507990,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94212990,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94393029,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94154353,0,0,1)'>
Fleming, S	:bg_a(0,94303115,11,4,0)'>3.75	:bg_a(0,93504235,9,4,0)'>3.25	:bg_a(0,94534708,3,1,1)'>4	:bg_a(0,93507990,3,1,0)'>4	:bg_a(0,94212990,11,4,0)'>3.75	:bg_a(0,94393029,3,1,0)'>4	:bg_a(0,94154353,3,1,0)'>4
Vincent, L	:bg_a(0,94303126,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,93504236,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94534719,4,1,1)'>5	:bg_a(0,93508001,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94212991,7,2,0)'>4.5	:bg_a(0,94393040,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94154364,3,1,0)'>4
Astle, N	:bg_a(0,94303113,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,93504237,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94534706,4,1,1)'>5	:bg_a(0,93507988,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94212992,9,2,0)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94393027,9,2,0)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94154351,5,1,0)'>6
Marshall, H	:bg_a(0,94303119,11,2,0)'>6.5	:bg_a(0,93504238,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94534712,11,2,1)'>6.5	:bg_a(0,93507994,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94212993,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94393033,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94154357,11,2,0)'>6.5
Styris, S	:bg_a(0,94303124,13,2,0)'>7.5	:bg_a(0,93504239,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534717,13,2,1)'>7.5	:bg_a(0,93507999,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94212994,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94393038,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94154362,7,1,0)'>8
Fulton, P	:bg_a(0,94303117,13,2,0)'>7.5	:bg_a(0,93504240,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534710,7,1,1)'>8	:bg_a(0,93507992,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94212995,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94393031,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94154355,8,1,0)'>9
McCullum, B	:bg_a(0,94303120,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,93504242,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94534713,14,1,1)'>15	:bg_a(0,93507995,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94212996,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94393034,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94154358,14,1,0)'>15
Oram, J	:bg_a(0,94303122,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,93504241,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94534715,14,1,1)'>15	:bg_a(0,93507997,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94212997,14,1,0)'>15	:bg_a(0,94393036,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94154360,14,1,0)'>15
Franklin, J	:bg_a(0,94303116,40,1,0)'>41	:bg_a(0,93504244,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94534709,33,1,1)'>34	:bg_a(0,93507991,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94212998,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94393030,25,1,0)'>26	:bg_a(0,94154354,25,1,0)'>26
Vettori, D	:bg_a(0,94303125,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,93504243,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94534718,33,1,1)'>34	:bg_a(0,93508000,50,1,0)'>51	:bg_a(0,94212999,50,1,0)'>51	:bg_a(0,94393039,50,1,0)'>51	:bg_a(0,94154363,40,1,0)'>41
Mills, K	:bg_a(0,94303121,66,1,0)'>67	:bg_a(0,93504246,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94534714,100,1,1)'>101	:bg_a(0,93507996,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,94213001,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94393035,125,1,0)'>126	:bg_a(0,94154359,100,1,0)'>101
Gillespie, M	:bg_a(0,94303118,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,93504245,125,1,0)'>126	:bg_a(0,94534711,100,1,1)'>101	:bg_a(0,93507993,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,94213000,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94393032,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94154356,100,1,0)'>101
Bond, S	:bg_a(0,94303114,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,93504247,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,94534707,200,1,1)'>201	:bg_a(0,93507989,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94213002,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94393028,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94154352,150,1,0)'>151
Patel, J	:bg_a(0,94303123,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,93504248,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,94534716,200,1,1)'>201	:bg_a(0,93507998,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94213003,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,94393037,125,1,0)'>126	:bg_a(0,94154361,150,1,0)'>151
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/4	3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

2pts ew B.McCullum Top NZ Batsman 16/1 Ladbrokes (1/4 1,2,3) Brendan McCullum is a very hard hitting batsman who may well be used high up the order for NZ in this tournament to take advantage of the powerplays as that is where this tournament will be won and lost. Should he bat at no3 then his price is absurd. If he doesn't bat at no3 then the price is more realistic but he will get enough overs to score runs. The rate he scores his runs means he doesn't have to bat for long to be a contender here and with NZ not having a real standout batsmen along with the possibility of him batting high up the order I'm happy to take my chances. Top Pakistan Batsman

:bg_popupOptionTable('Default.aspx?market=25670583&view=all', '2', '0')'>Best odds/All odds	:bg_a(1,94303149,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94320242,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94534770,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,93918726,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94312941,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94393077,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94148844,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94539649,0,0,1)'>
Khan, Y	:bg_a(0,94303149,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94320242,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94534770,5,2,1)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,93918726,9,4,0)'>3.25	:bg_a(0,94312941,9,4,0)'>3.25	:bg_a(0,94393077,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94148844,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94539649,51,20,1)'>3.55
Yousuf, M	:bg_a(0,94303153,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94320243,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94534774,5,2,1)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,93918727,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94312942,11,4,0)'>3.75	:bg_a(0,94393081,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94148845,3,1,0)'>4	:bg_a(0,94539650,57,20,1)'>3.85
Hafeez, M	:bg_a(0,94303148,13,2,0)'>7.5	:bg_a(0,94320244,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94534768,11,2,1)'>6.5	:bg_a(0,93918730,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94312943,13,2,0)'>7.5	:bg_a(0,94393075,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94148850,11,2,0)'>6.5	-
Malik, N	:bg_a(0,94303150,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94320245,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94534771,7,1,1)'>8	:bg_a(0,93918729,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94312944,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94393078,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94148851,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94539651,7,1,1)'>8
Fahrat, I	:bg_a(0,94303146,13,2,0)'>7.5	:bg_a(0,94320247,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534766,8,1,1)'>9	:bg_a(0,93918728,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94312945,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94393073,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94148852,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94539652,36,5,1)'>8.2
Afridi, S	:bg_a(0,94303141,9,1,0)'>10	:bg_a(0,94320248,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94534761,10,1,1)'>11	:bg_a(0,93918731,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94312946,11,1,0)'>12	:bg_a(0,94393068,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94148853,9,1,0)'>10	:bg_a(0,94539654,21,2,1)'>11.5
Iqbar, F	:bg_a(0,94308163,14,1,0)'>15	:bg_a(0,94320246,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534769,12,1,1)'>13	:bg_a(0,94148670,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94312947,11,1,0)'>12	:bg_a(0,94393076,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94148846,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94539655,12,1,1)'>13
Razzaq, A	:bg_a(0,94303151,14,1,0)'>15	:bg_a(0,94320249,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94534772,14,1,1)'>15	:bg_a(0,93918732,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94312948,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94393079,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94148854,14,1,0)'>15	:bg_a(0,94539656,27,2,1)'>14.5
Akmal, K	:bg_a(0,94303143,20,1,0)'>21	:bg_a(0,94320250,20,1,0)'>21	:bg_a(0,94534763,20,1,1)'>21	:bg_a(0,93918733,20,1,0)'>21	:bg_a(0,94312949,22,1,0)'>23	:bg_a(0,94393070,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94148855,20,1,0)'>21	:bg_a(0,94539653,21,2,1)'>11.5
Naved, R	-	-	-	-	:bg_a(0,94312950,150,1,0)'>151	-	:bg_a(0,94148856,100,1,0)'>101	-
Ul-Hasan, N	:bg_a(0,94303152,80,1,0)'>81	:bg_a(0,94320251,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94534773,100,1,1)'>101	:bg_a(0,93918734,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94312951,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94393080,66,1,0)'>67	-	-
Akhtar, S	:bg_a(0,94303142,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94320252,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94534762,200,1,1)'>201	:bg_a(0,93918735,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94312952,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94393069,125,1,0)'>126	:bg_a(0,94148857,150,1,0)'>151	-
Anjum, I	:bg_a(0,94303144,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,94320255,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,94534764,200,1,1)'>201	:bg_a(0,93918737,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94312953,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94393071,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94148860,200,1,0)'>201	-
Gul, U	:bg_a(0,94303147,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94320254,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,94534767,200,1,1)'>201	:bg_a(0,93918736,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94312954,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94393074,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94148858,200,1,0)'>201	-
Asif, M	:bg_a(0,94303145,1000,1,0)'>1001	:bg_a(0,94320253,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,94534765,500,1,1)'>501	:bg_a(0,93918738,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94312955,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94393072,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94148859,200,1,0)'>201	-
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/4	3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

2pts ew A.Razzaq Top Pakistan Batsman 16/1 Blue Square (1/4 1,2,3) Abdul Razzaq is another hard hitting lower order batsman who can be one of the most destrcutive batsmen around as England found out at Trent Bridge. He is another who can be used up the order. There is something not right behind the scenes in the Pakistan camp but one guy who always gives his all is Razzaq and with him being vice-captain for this tournament he'll have more responsibility to do well in this event. Pakistan don't have the strongest batting line-up particularly without Inzi and there's every chance Razzaq can get a place here if not actually win it outright.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Top SA Bat

Best odds/All odds
Kallis, J	4	3.75	4	4.5	3.5	4.33	4.33
Smith, G	4.5	4	4	4	4	4.5	4.33
Gibbs, H	5	4	4.5	5	4.5	5.5	5
Dippenaar, B	6.5	7	7	5.5	6.5	5.5	7
de Villiers, A	8	8	8	9	8	8	8
Bosman, L	9	9	10	10	11	9	9
Boucher, M	12	13	13	11	13	11	12
Kemp, J	13	13	15	15	15	15	13
Pollock, S	34	34	34	34	34	34	26
Hall, A	51	34	34	26	21	26	34
Peterson, R	81	51	67	101	67	101	67
Nel, A	501	301	201	251	301	251	151
Langeveldt, C	1001	201	201	201	301	251	501
Ntini, M	1001	301	201	251	301	251	501
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/4	3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

1pt ew S.Pollock Top SA Bat 33/1 Ladbrokes (1/4 1,2,3)

Shaun Pollock has rescued South Africa with the bat on many occasions and with his batsmen not having the best records in the sub-continent may find himself having to do that again here. Pollock's a genuine all rounder with 2 test match centuries to is name. He averages 25 in ODI's with a top score of 75 despite usually batting at 7 or 8. He's also a big hitter so can score quickly at the end of the innings to close the gap on his rivals. At this price I'm happy to take a chance on none of the SA batsmen having a really good tournament allowing Pollock to place if not win. Top Sri Lanka Bat

Best odds/All odds
Jayasuriya, S	4	3.5	3.5	4	4	3.75	4	4	3.5	4
Jayawardene, M	4.5	5	5	3.75	4	4	4	3.75	5	3.75
Sangakkara, K	4.33	4.33	5	4	4.5	5	4	3.75	5	4.33
Tharanga, U	4.5	5.5	4.33	6	5.5	4.5	5.5	5.5	4.33	6
Atapattu, M	6	4.5	8	9	7	7	8.5	6.5	8	8
Dilshan, T	11	9	11	10	10	13	13	9	11	11
Kapudegara, C	19	13	-	21	21	21	23	51	-	21
Maharoof, F	67	34	19	51	34	34	51	26	19	51
Vaas, C	51	67	51	51	67	67	81	34	51	51
Bandara, M	101	51	-	101	101	101	101	81	-	101
Malinga, L	251	151	101	201	101	201	251	251	101	201
Fernando, D	501	151	201	501	201	251	301	251	201	201
Muralitharan, M	301	201	201	251	501	501	501	251	201	301
Perera, R	1001	251	-	501	501	501	501	251	-	201
Each-way terms:				3 at 1/5	3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

4pts K.Sangakkara Top Sri Lanka Batsman 4/1 Ladbrokes

As the market suggests this is pretty much a straight shootout between Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Jayasuriya with Atapattu a dangerous outsider. However of the main 3 Sangakkara is without doubt the most solid and dependable as the other 2 have a more gung-ho approach which can be hit or miss. Sangakkara is a world class batsman who's record in ODI's is very good. He averages over 35 in ODI's which is very good and is more than capable of batting through an innings. He made the World XI in the Super Series against Australia last year outlining his class and I think he'll go well in this tournament.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Top West Indies Batsman

:bg_popupOptionTable('Default.aspx?market=25621132&view=all', '2', '0')'>Best odds/All odds	:bg_a(1,94303077,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,93504350,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,93508057,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94209520,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94393020,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94152184,0,0,1)'>
Gayle, C	:bg_a(0,94303077,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,93504350,11,4,0)'>3.75	:bg_a(0,93508057,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94209520,11,4,0)'>3.75	:bg_a(0,94393020,5,2,0)'>3.5	:bg_a(0,94152184,11,4,0)'>3.75
Lara, B	:bg_a(0,94303079,10,3,0)'>4.33	:bg_a(0,93504349,3,1,0)'>4	:bg_a(0,93508059,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94209522,3,1,0)'>4	:bg_a(0,94393022,11,4,0)'>3.75	:bg_a(0,94152186,10,3,0)'>4.33
Chanderpaul, S	:bg_a(0,94303074,7,2,0)'>4.5	:bg_a(0,93504352,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,93508054,7,2,0)'>4.5	:bg_a(0,94209517,7,2,0)'>4.5	:bg_a(0,94393017,9,2,0)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94152181,10,3,0)'>4.33
Sarwan, R	:bg_a(0,94303082,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,93504351,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,93508062,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94209525,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94393025,9,2,0)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94152189,7,2,0)'>4.5
Bravo, D	:bg_a(0,94303073,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,93504353,9,1,0)'>10	:bg_a(0,93508053,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94209516,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94393016,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94152180,12,1,0)'>13
Hinds, W	:bg_a(0,94303078,14,1,0)'>15	:bg_a(0,93504355,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,93508058,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94209521,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94393021,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94152185,16,1,0)'>17
Morton, R	:bg_a(0,94303080,14,1,0)'>15	:bg_a(0,93504356,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,93508060,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94209523,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94393023,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94152187,20,1,0)'>21
Samuels, M	:bg_a(0,94303081,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,93504354,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,93508061,20,1,0)'>21	:bg_a(0,94209524,18,1,0)'>19	:bg_a(0,94393024,14,1,0)'>15	:bg_a(0,94152188,20,1,0)'>21
Smith, Dwayne	:bg_a(0,94303083,20,1,0)'>21	:bg_a(0,93504357,25,1,0)'>26	:bg_a(0,93508063,20,1,0)'>21	:bg_a(0,94209526,22,1,0)'>23	:bg_a(0,94540367,25,1,0)'>26	:bg_a(0,94152190,20,1,0)'>21
Baugh, C	:bg_a(0,94303071,80,1,0)'>81	:bg_a(0,93504358,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,93508051,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94209514,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94393014,66,1,0)'>67	:bg_a(0,94152178,33,1,0)'>34
Bradshaw, I	:bg_a(0,94303072,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,93504359,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,93508052,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,94209515,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94393015,80,1,0)'>81	:bg_a(0,94152179,100,1,0)'>101
Edwards, F	:bg_a(0,94303076,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,93504361,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,93508056,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94209519,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94393019,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94152183,200,1,0)'>201
Taylor, J	:bg_a(0,94303084,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,93504360,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,93508064,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94209527,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94393026,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94152191,200,1,0)'>201
Collymore, C	:bg_a(0,94303075,1000,1,0)'>1001	:bg_a(0,93504362,300,1,0)'>301	:bg_a(0,93508055,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94209518,500,1,0)'>501	:bg_a(0,94393018,250,1,0)'>251	:bg_a(0,94152182,500,1,0)'>501
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4	3 at 1/4

4pts B.Lara Top WI Batsman 4/1 Ladbrokes

West Indies captain Brian Lara is still a class act at the highest level and he will want to put on a show here as his side look to defend their title. In terms of batting West Indies are very much a 4 man side, Lara, Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan will do the bulk of their scoring but when he’s on form none of them are as good as Lara. With WI in the preliminary group Lara will have Bangladesh and Zimbabwe’s bowling to feed on and hopefully he can start well against them and crack on from there. Top Zimbabwe Batsman

:bg_popupOptionTable('Default.aspx?market=25747741&view=all', '2', '0')'>Best odds/All odds	:bg_a(1,94316009,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94534775,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94534792,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94392986,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,94311455,0,0,1)'>
Chibhabha, CJ	:bg_a(0,94316009,9,2,0)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94534775,9,2,1)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94534792,7,2,0)'>4.5	:bg_a(0,94392986,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94311455,4,1,0)'>5
Taylor, B	:bg_a(0,94316020,9,2,0)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94534787,5,1,1)'>6	:bg_a(0,94534794,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94392998,11,2,0)'>6.5	:bg_a(0,94311467,5,1,0)'>6
Masakadza, H	:bg_a(0,94316014,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94534780,6,1,1)'>7	:bg_a(0,94534796,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94392991,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94311460,6,1,0)'>7
Duffin, T	:bg_a(0,94316011,4,1,0)'>5	:bg_a(0,94534777,6,1,1)'>7	:bg_a(0,94534793,9,2,0)'>5.5	:bg_a(0,94392988,5,1,0)'>6	:bg_a(0,94311457,7,1,0)'>8
Sibanda, V	:bg_a(0,94316018,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534785,6,1,1)'>7	:bg_a(0,94534795,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94392996,6,1,0)'>7	-
Matsikenyeri, S	:bg_a(0,94316015,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94534781,7,1,1)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534798,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94392992,6,1,0)'>7	:bg_a(0,94311461,5,1,0)'>6
Chigumbura, E	:bg_a(0,94316010,9,1,0)'>10	:bg_a(0,94534776,8,1,1)'>9	:bg_a(0,94534797,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94392987,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94311456,7,1,0)'>8
Rinke, P	:bg_a(0,94392738,7,1,0)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534784,7,1,1)'>8	:bg_a(0,94534799,10,1,0)'>11	:bg_a(0,94392995,8,1,0)'>9	:bg_a(0,94311464,9,1,0)'>10
Strydom, G	:bg_a(0,94316019,18,1,0)'>19	:bg_a(0,94534786,12,1,1)'>13	:bg_a(0,94534800,16,1,0)'>17	:bg_a(0,94392997,12,1,0)'>13	:bg_a(0,94311466,10,1,0)'>11
Mupariwa, T	:bg_a(0,94316016,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94534782,25,1,1)'>26	:bg_a(0,94534801,50,1,0)'>51	:bg_a(0,94392993,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94311462,25,1,0)'>26
Utseya, P	:bg_a(0,94316021,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94534788,33,1,1)'>34	:bg_a(0,94534802,50,1,0)'>51	:bg_a(0,94392999,33,1,0)'>34	:bg_a(0,94311454,33,1,0)'>34
Ireland, A	:bg_a(0,94316012,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,94534778,50,1,1)'>51	:bg_a(0,94534803,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94392989,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,94311458,33,1,0)'>34
Rainsford, E	:bg_a(0,94316017,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,94534783,50,1,1)'>51	:bg_a(0,94534804,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94392994,50,1,0)'>51	:bg_a(0,94311463,50,1,0)'>51
Kamungozi, T	:bg_a(0,94316013,200,1,0)'>201	:bg_a(0,94534779,50,1,1)'>51	:bg_a(0,94534805,100,1,0)'>101	:bg_a(0,94392990,150,1,0)'>151	:bg_a(0,94311459,50,1,0)'>51
Each-way terms:		3 at 1/5	3 at 1/4

3pts ew H.Masakadze Top Zimbabwe Batsman 6/1 Ladbrokes (1/4 1,2,3)

Hamilton Masakadze is one of few Zimbabwean’s still perform well at this level. Having made runs against Bangladesh he then then scored more against South Africa and had a good warm-up game in India too. He’ll bat at no4 and in a batting line-up that’s far from strong he’s not only a good price but has a very good chance of being in the top 3 if not winning it outright. And 1 last outright bet!

:bg_popupOptionTable('Default.aspx?market=25064130&view=all', '2', '0')'>Best odds/All odds	:bg_a(1,94317388,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,92989106,0,0,1)'>	:bg_a(1,90321917,0,0,1)'>
Australia	:bg_a(0,94317388,11,8,0)'>2.37	:bg_a(0,92989106,13,8,0)'>2.62	:bg_a(0,90321917,6,4,1)'>2.5
India	:bg_a(0,94317389,11,5,0)'>3.2	:bg_a(0,92989105,2,1,0)'>3	:bg_a(0,90321919,9,4,1)'>3.25
Qualifier	:bg_a(0,94317390,7,2,0)'>4.5	:bg_a(0,92989107,11,4,0)'>3.75	-
England	:bg_a(0,94317391,11,2,0)'>6.5	:bg_a(0,92989104,11,2,0)'>6.5	:bg_a(0,90321918,9,2,1)'>5.5

4pts England to win Group A 11/2 Bet365

I believe this is a group where everyone could beat everyone. India, who England play 1^st aren’t in good nick right now and the qualifier will be playing their 6^th match of the tournament when they play England, all inside 16 days. So England have the fixture list on their side. With little pressure on England to succeed they may just knuckle down and play the cricket that they were playing in 2005 out here. If they do then winning this group is in their capabilities.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy 1st match today. 9.45am start, Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh.

odds/All odds
Bangladesh	10	8	8.5	9	9	8	7.5	8	8	10	7.5	9	7	7.5	8.5	7.5	15	15
Sri Lanka	1.03	1.06	1.04	1.06	1.05	1.06	1.08	1.06	1.05	1.03	1.07	1.06	1.07	1.07	1.05	1.07	1.06	1.06

Nothing there interests me but these lot do! 10pts Bangladesh +4.5wickets/55.5runs to beat Sri Lanka Evs Sporting Odds For a 1st game of a tournament this is a big handicap to cover. Both sides won their warmup fixture, Sri Lanka were in trouble at 1 stage but Maharoof and Vaas rescued them while Bangladesh won their match very comfortably. Both sides will be at full strength here and both will want to make a good start to the tournament. I'm in no doubt Sri Lanka will win this but I don't think they'll walk away with it so I expect Bangladesh to stay within this handicap. The match is a day/night game which will make chasing difficult so if Bangladesh have a solid 1st half they will stay within reach. 5pts Over 5 6's 5/4 Sporting Odds Mohali is a fairly short ground and I'm sure the ropes will come in a bit to encourage big hitting. Sri Lanka's batting lineup is littered with guys who can clear the ropes and Bangladesh have 1 or 2 hitters down the order. I expect to see a few 6's this tournament and these 2 can get the 6 hitting off to a good start. 10pts F.Maharoof's Performance Pts 40&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch and 20pts per wicket. Farveez Maharoof is becoming a very good all-rounder. In the warm-up match he contributed with bat and ball and has been in good form with the bat for quite a while now going back to the tour of England in the early summer. He often picks up a wicket with his bowling and can score handy lower order runs. Against sub-standard opposition this isn't a big target and I'm confident he'll reach it. 10pts M.Rafique's Performance Pts 31&Over 5/6 Bet365 I flagged Mohammed Rafique up as a star man for Bangladesh in my preview for this tournament. He took 2 wickets in the warm-up game so they must be coming out right. He has a good record in the ODI arena, constantly picking up wickets. He also has the ability to score some runs down the order too so this target is within his reach too. 2pts M.Jayawardene Man of the Match 9/1 Bet365 Sri Lanka's captain has been in good form for some time now and if he scores runs here he'll instantly be a challenger for the MOM award. I was going to back him for top bat but he's only half the price for that so I'll back him here in the hope that a bowler doesn't get 6 or 7 for and take it away from whoever top scores.

[davidmphill]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Great work Kev, in fact Incredible stuff. Totally agree about Mike Hussey. I'm shocked at the size of the price he is.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy

Great work Kev' date=' in fact Incredible stuff.[/quote'] Cheers :ok

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy

10pts Bangladesh +4.5wickets/55.5runs to beat Sri Lanka Evs Sporting Odds 5pts Over 5 6's 5/4 Sporting Odds 10pts F.Maharoof's Performance Pts 40&Over 5/6 Bet365 10pts M.Rafique's Performance Pts 31&Over 5/6 Bet365 2pts M.Jayawardene Man of the Match 9/1 Bet365

4/5 today making a 30.85pt profit on the day :dude Not a bad start :nana

[meatman]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy well done Kev, very nice stuff :ok :clap

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Game 2 of the Preliminary group starts at 10am. West Indies vs Zimbabwe.

Best odds/All odds
West Indies	1.04	1.05	1.05	1.03	1.05	1.04	1.05	1.06	1.04	1.05	1.06	1.04	1.05	1.06	1.07	1.06
Zimbabwe	9	8.5	8	13	9	9	9.5	8	9	8.5	7.5	10	8.5	8	13.5	15.5

Again, nothing there interests me but these do. 10pts Zimbabwe +4.5wickets/55.5runs to beat West Indies Evs Sporting Odds Unfortunately in recent years Zimbabwean cricket has gone through an awful collapse and truth be told they are not good enough for this level in terms of results but the fact is they can still compete and are rarely trounced. Their last 2 series have shown some improvement too. They beat Bangladesh 3-2 and although lost 3-0 to South Africa in South Africa they were very competitive in the 1st 2 matches covering this handicap both times. While the West Indies have geniuses in their squad their batting lineup is prone to sudden collapses which gives our 55run start further substance. As I said yesterday it's hard for anyone to win a match by over 50 runs and with WI planning on going all the way in this event they will have to play 6 matches in 16 days at different venues so when the job is done they may take their foot off the gas allowing Zimbabwe to sneak closer. 10pts Over 5.5 6's 10/11 Boylesports West Indies have a few 6 hitters in their side as Australia found out in Malaysia last month when they unleashed a barrage of 6's on them. Zimbabwe also have some big hitting lower order batsmen. 6 6's isn't a particularly big target in India anyway so I expect it to be achieved here. 10pts Over 17.5 Wides 10/11 Boylesports In the humidity in India at this time of the year the white ball can be hard to control. In the 2nd half of the match the ground will be filled with dew making gripping the ball extremely difficult too so controlling the ball isn't easy for the bowlers. The Sri Lanka-Bangladesh match had 37 wides in it and wides could well be quite frequent in this tournament. I would think most matches will top 20 wides so I'm happy to take this on. 10pts C.Chibhabha's Performance Pts 31&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. Chamu Chibhabha is having a decent spell in 1 day cricket recently, he made some runs in South Africa and has a career ODI average of over 32 now which for the team he is in is very impressive. He also bowls a bit and can pick up the odd wicket as well as a catch. He'll bat at no4 for Zimbabwe so will have enough overs to score the runs he needs and with the chance of more points in the field I'll take him to achieve this fairly low total.

[davidmphill]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Excellent start Kev, long may it continue.

[Crouch Potato]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy I've backed Zimbabwe to beat the Windies at $23. Don't expect them to, but am hoping to be able to lay off at $5 if they make a nice start.

[davidmphill]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Terrible start from Zimbabwe Oscar. 12/2 already.:unsure

[Crouch Potato]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Horrible indeed. Fortunately it was only for very small stakes as part of an experiment, so I wont lose much.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Erm, that didn't go to plan :cry . Adios profit :sad .

[TazaD]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy The way they got out was pretty telling too... A couple just missed straight ones off what you'd have to say is pretty tame bowling line up....the guy that got bowled playing inside to Gayle!! :eek :eek A few prods and a poke here and there...the cpt. looked ok before slogging himself out. Basically, it's gunna be a long (but short!) couple of games for them I reckon. Does the "most runs" market stay open until after the toss?...Given it looks unlikely the 'Barbs (:D) will score much over 100, if they bat first Gayle should be a great take... ...actually will it matter (the toss). Is Zim likely to bat first either way (def if they win the toss you'd think)...but will WI want quick games or batting practice?

[iwewe]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy There won't be much value in backing Sri lanka at 1.02, but i would wait for the game and push for spreads. In 2004 Zimbabwe lost in Harare and D. Ebraim scored 7 (Well he was the highest) and the young Zim boys stambled 35 -10. Well this game will be no different as the Zim boys have not strengthened any department, after the departure of Tatanda Taibu. If Sri Lanka take bat I will back them to go over 250 runs, as the Zim bowling line up has not been strong. I will give Zim over 150 runs as they are going to be more determined and try to get 200 runs. The boys are going to be more cautious with their ball selection. According to the Zim Coach 200 runs is a significant number even if they loose the game, so the young boys are going to push to get over 150. For the highest runs - B.taylor, he seems to be a more relaxed batsman and selects well on a good day. I would pick GL

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy

For the highest runs - B.taylor' date=' he seems to be a more relaxed batsman and selects well on a good day.[/quote'] As long as he's learnt to judge a run you might be right! To be honest Taza, although it was very bad shot selections and a horror of a performance, I don't think their other 2 matches will be like that one. They will probably be over cautious in not getting humiliated again but I would expect them to make around the 200 mark and maybe more with a good start. I'm sure Curran, their coach will tell them to go out and bat 50 overs regardless of winning and it may just be they target 200 rather than whatever Sri Lanka score.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Game 3 is tomorrow. SL vs Zimbabwe. No point me putting the odds up really! Bad day on Sunday but I'll try again here. 10pts Zimbabwe +7.5wickets/91.5runs 10/11 Bet365 This really is a bit of a joke handicap to be honest. Beating any side by 92 runs in a 50 over match is a tough ask no matter how big the gulf is between the 2 sides. Zimbabwe got bashed up by the Windies on Sunday and I believe that will make them stronger here. They won't win the game outright but staying within 90 runs of Sri Lanka or getting 3 Sri Lankan wickets isn't beyond them. Sri Lanka may well pile on the runs but they do concede a few too. Sri Lanka are likely to rest a couple of players here too which will help Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka weren't all that ruthless against Bangladesh so Zimbabwe could be given enough chances to hold onto the start. It's such a huge start that they receive that I have to side with them. 10pts P.Utseya's Performance Pts 27&Over 5/6 Boylesports Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch and 20pts per wicket. Prosper Utseya top scored with the bat on Sunday with 27 and is one of the few Zimbabwean's who isn't out of place in international cricket. He's primarily an off-spin bowler who can bat and his off spin is very efficient. He not only keeps runs down but takes wickets too. With his batting being more than handy too this isn't a big target for someone of his ability and I think he'll cover it. 10pts Over 4.5 6's 10/11 Boylesports It's the same ground for this match that was used for WI vs Zimbabwe. Gayle and Lara smashed 3 6's there in a very low scoring match. I don't see Zimbabwe performing as badly with the bat here so we'll see more overs with more 6's particularly if Sri Lanka was to bat 1st. 10pts Over 15.5 Wides 10/11 Boylesports Wides were a huge problem for Sri Lanka on Saturday. They sent 21 of them down the other end. Dilhara Fernando was the chief culprit as he sent 12 down. Sri Lanka could rest Vaas or Murali for the game which would bring in a rustier bowler. Zimbabwe are quite disciplined when bowling and don't tend to bowl many wides but under lights the ground picks up dew and whoever has to bowl will struggle to grip the ball bringing wides into play. Really 16 wides isn't a huge ask and I think we'll get it covered here.