Cricket: SA vs Pakistan Test Series

[kevshat]

Test series begins at 8am Thursday.

Thu 11 - Mon 15	1st Test - South Africa v Pakistan SuperSport Park, Centurion
Fri 19 - Tue 23	2nd Test - South Africa v Pakistan St George's Park, Port Elizabeth
Fri 26 - Tue 30	3rd Test - South Africa v Pakistan Newlands, Cape Town

Since SA returned to International cricket they've hosted Pakistan for 3 test series and have drawn 1 and won the other 2. 2 series bets for myself. 5pts Inzamam Top Pakistan Series bat 2/1 Bet365 Inzamam has been an amazing performer for his country for many years. He and Mohammed Yousuf have been the mainstay of the side for as many years as I can remember. However Yousuf will miss the 1st test of this series and may end up missing the entire series due to complications with his wife's pregnancy. That means Inzamam will have to perform well in the series to give Pakistan any chance. I expect a good showing from him and am confident over the 3 matches that he will top score. 3pts South Africa to win series 2-1 7/1 Ladbrokes South Africa are a strong nation at home but they did drop a match in the recent series with India. These 3 matches are all back to back so playing outstanding cricket all through all 3 tests simply won't happen. Pakistan will have their moments in this series, particularly with their bowling attack who will keep them in matches. I certainly see Pakistan in positions to win a match in the series, however given South Africa's strengths at home I still feel they'll prevail so 2-1 to the home side is my prediction. 1st Test

Best odds/All odds
South Africa	1.9	1.9	1.9	2	1.83	1.95	2	2	1.9	1.95	1.83	1.8	1.9	1.83	2.04	1.95
Draw	2.37	2.37	2.37	2.37	2.5	2.55	2.5	2.25	2.5	2.62	2.5	2.75	2.37	2.62	2.78	2.55
Pakistan	6	6	6	5.5	6	5.45	5	6	5.5	6.5	6.5	5.2	6	5	6.6	6.25

10pts South Africa to win 1st Test Evs Ladbrokes South Africa simply love Centurion. They are unbeaten here this century and it suits them down to the ground in every way. Their seam bowling attack will thrive here and both Nel and Ntini have good records here. Also their batsmen will like the bouncy surface, AB de Villiers has his best record here. Dale Steyn is injured for South Africa so he won't be playing. Andre Nel is fit again though so Nel will play. That gives them a seam attack of Pollock, Ntini, Nel and Kallis with the spinner Paul Harris being a 5th bowler. The batting lineup will be the same as in the India 3rd test. As I eluded to in my series bets, there will be no Mohammed Yousuf for Pakistan. Also missing is top order batsman Shoaib Malik. Shoaib Akthar is able to play but isn't in South Africa yet. Mohammed Asif makes his comeback. Pakistan's seam attack will consist of Rana Naved, Mohammed Asif and Shahid Nazir. Danish Kaneria provides the leg spin option. Personally I think Pakistan are a seamer light here, their batsmen made runs in the warmup game but they didn't face the quality of the seam attack they face here. South Africa's record here is immense and I expect them to continue that here. Their price is inflated by a potential dodgy forecast but I expect there to be enough play for the Proteas to triumph. Now for the side market attack :ok 10pts G.Smith to beat Y.Khan (1st Inns Only) 5/6 Bet365 Graeme Smith's had a poor summer by his impeccably high standards but he showed signs of a return to form towards the end of the test series with India. Younis Khan, while a class act on home soil has plenty to prove overseas, particularly on quick, bouncy tracks like he'll be on here. Both batsmen will face tough bowling but in home conditions I favour the SOuth African captain to beat Mr Khan. 10pts M.Asif's Performance Pts 85&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. Anyone who saw Pakistan in England last summer will see how good a bowler this guy is. He is going to be a wicket taking machine in his career. He's over his drugs scandal now and will be raring to go here. Conditions in SA are perfectly suited to Asif and all we need for him to cover the total here is 5 wickets in the match. I think we'll get that but we may only need 4 if he can score 5 runs in 2 innings or even take a catch. However he does it, I think he'll cover here. 10pts M.Ntini's Performance Pts 116&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. Makhaya Ntini has a very good record here at Centurion. In his test career he's bagged 37 wickets at a measly 18.89 each. He didn't have the greatestr series against India but he'll be keen to make up for that here. We need 6 wickets for him to cover here, he got 10 wickets in the match last year here. He also takes some catches and can swing the bat too so I'm happy this will get covered. 10pts S.Pollock's Performance Pts 121&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. In the test series against India, Shaun Pollock showed just why he is a class all-rounder, taking wickets, scoring a bucket load of runs and even taking some catches too. That's what his game offers which is why he's always a runner in chasing these totals down. 6 wickets will see us safe but with his volume of runs as few as 3 wickets could see us home here. 4-5 wickets will leave him little to do with the bat over 2 knocks and Pollock should cover this. 5pts ew H.Gibbs Top SA Bat (1st Inns Only 1/4 1,2,3) 9/2 Boylesports Herschelle Gibbs has a superb record against Pakistan, overall his record against them is an average of 67.42 runs per innings but against Pakistan in South Africa it shoots up to an average of 89.33. His record at this ground isn't bad either and I expect a decent knock from Herschelle here. A few of his colleagues, notably Hashim Amla and de Villiers haven't had the best of trots with the bat so he has every chance of top scoring. If he plays to his record here there's no way he won't be top 3 and could well top score.

[davidmphill]

Re: Cricket: SA vs Pakistan Test Series Highest Opening Partnership Neither side have the strongest of opening partnerships these days. SA struggled against India and in particular AB de Villiers. Graeme Smith did pick up as the series went on but he still doesn't look back to his best. I think the Pakistani's represent decent value here. Hafeez has started his fledgling career well with 2 100's so far, Farfat is a talented batsmen who since his inception into the side his tightened up his game. Pakistan 5pts @ 2.1 bet365 Top Pakistan Batsmen (1st inns) Wicket Keeper Kamran Akmal is a solid performer at test level. So much so he has opened in the past thus demonstrating his ability with the bat. Despite a poor showing in England last summer he still possesses a healthy average and is more than capable of a decent score. Kamran Akmal 1pt EW @ 13 boylesports 1/4 123 Top SA Batsmen (1st inns) A great guy to have cominbg in in a crisis. Mark Boucher has on many an occasion salvaged a poor display from the top order for SA. He showed he was in good nick last time against India with a fine 50 to boost their push for victory. Mark Boucher 1pt EW @ 15 boylesports 1/4 123