Cricket: Pakistan v West Indies ODI Series

[Postman Pat]

Tip Detail

Sport	Cricket
Event	Pak v W Ind - 1st ODI
Selection	Pak
Strength	10/10
Date	05/12/2006
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 1.65 (Back)
Reasoning	Windies will be weakened by the absence of Sarwan (fractured foot) and Bravo (family illness). However Pakistan have left Afridi out of the squad as he has been in such poor form of late. Following the poor showing in the ICC tournament I believe both sides are now looking towards the world cup. I feel home advantage may be too much for the visitors and as long as Pakistan get Gayle early enough then they should be ok. I'm pleased to see Kaneria back into the squad hopefully he can tie down an end and keep things quiet.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Pakistan v West Indies ODI Series A best of 5 ODI series gets underway at 6am UK time - or at least it is meant to but there are huge doubts over the 1st game due to downpours for the last 2 days. Here's the schedule. All matches are 50 over contests.

Tue 5	1st ODI - Pakistan v West Indies Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Thu 7	2nd ODI - Pakistan v West Indies Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
Sun 10	3rd ODI - Pakistan v West Indies Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Wed 13	4th ODI - Pakistan v West Indies Multan Cricket Stadium
Sat 16	5th ODI - Pakistan v West Indies National Stadium, Karachi

Series Odds

Best odds/All odds
Pakistan	1.4	1.4	1.57	1.44	1.44	1.5	1.56
Draw	-	-	-	-	-	-	2.56
West Indies	2.75	2.75	2.25	2.62	2.62	2.5	3.1

Bets. 10pts Windies to win ODI Series 7/4 Betfred These 2 sides come into this ODI series off the back of a hard fought test series in which Pakistan prevailed 2-0. ODI cricket though is a different kettle of fish and it's a form of the game that West Indies are playing very well in as their Champions Trophy run would suggest. Pakistan were poor in that tournament but with home advantage here that may help them. Pakistan will be without their captain for the 1st match of this series as he serves the last game of his suspension for his part in the silly scenario at The Oval in September. Younis Khan will captain the side for the 1st game. Interestingly for the 1st game Pakistan have dropped Shahid Afridi who in Pakistan I'd have thought would be dangerous. There's no Asif or Akthar who both failed drugs tests although both do find out results of their appeals today. Rana Nabed comes back into the squad having been left out recently. West Indies have a few injury problems denying them of some of the squad that has taken them to the final of the DLF Cup and the Champions Trophy. Ramnaresh Sarwan is out for the series with a fractured foot and Dwayne Bravo is missing the series because of a family illness. Corey Collymore and Daren Ganga have been kept on from the test squad as replacements. Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Smith and Marlon Samuels have arrived in Pakistan for the series. West Indies will be hoping Chris Gayle can continue his superb form with the bat in ODI's in this series and would also like Brian lara to carry on his excellent form from the test series. If that happens West Indies will be a tough nut to crack. I think Pakistan cricket is under a lot of pressure right now, particularly in ODI cricket where they've hit the buffers somewhat particularly since the bans were given to Shoaib and Asif. Their attack isn't troubling sides and without Afridi there's nobody really to take the game away from sides with the bat. Windies do have that guy in Chris Gayle and for that reason I'm siding with the visitors to carry on their impressive ODI form. 10pts C.Gayle Top Windies Series Bat 2/1 Stan James Chris Gayle is one of if not the best batsmen in ODI cricket at the minute. He's in superb form after a terrific Champions Trophy backed up a solid DLF Cup for him with the bat. He hit 3 excellent centuries on the way to the Champions Trophy final and proved once again that when he is on form he is almost impossible to bowl too. These pitches are highly unlikely to be too quick so he shouldn't have any problems playing his shots. The pitches in Pakistan aren't too dissimilar to those in India where Gayle flourished and I see him having another very good series here.