Cricket: West Indies vs Sri Lanka Test Series

[kevshat]

West Indies and Sri Lanka begin a 2 test match series in Guyana tomorrow. Series odds

	West Indies	3.25	4	3	3.25	3	3.25	3.25	3.25	3	3.5	3.25
	Draw	2.8	3	2.87	2.65	2.87	2.8	2.75	2.8	2.87	2.62	2.76
	Sri Lanka	2.37	1.9	2.37	2.5	2.37	2.37	2.25	2.2	2.37	2.25	2.5

Schedule March 2008

Sat 22 - Wed 26 10:00 local, 14:00 GMT

1st Test - West Indies v Sri Lanka Providence Stadium, Guyana

April 2008

Thu 3 - Mon 7 10:00 local, 14:00 GMT

2nd Test - West Indies v Sri Lanka Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad

No outrights for me here. Don't like these 2 match series for outrights really. No time for the series to develop. I'll return shortly with bets for the 1st test though.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs Sri Lanka Test Series 1st test begins at 2pm tomorrow and it's live on sky. This is the 1st test match to be held at the Providence Stadium in Guyana but the pitch is meant to be like the one in the old ground which was always good for batting and took some spin later in the game. I'd expect no different here although the weather could play a part so as usual for me with test matches I'll take an early watching brief with regards the match. 10pts West Indies 1st Inns Lead 6/5 Bet365 West Indies have a pretty strong batting lineup out for this match. It could well be that Dwayne Bravo bats as low as number 7. Ryan Hinds looks like coming back into the fold and batting at number 6 while the Windies middle order of Sarwan and Chanderpaul are playing on their home ground. Sri Lanka as we all know rely so much on their 2 main men Sangakkara and Jayawardene - both of whom have a decent record in the Caribbean. Jayasuriya has gone from test cricket now and has been replaced by Malinda Warnapura who is playing his 3rd test. There's no Lasith Malinga for Sri Lanka in this match which should help the Windies batsmen as he showed how good he can be in these conditions in the world cup last year. Windies have a decent seam attack and they can ensure they lead at half time. 10pts P.Jayawardene's Performance Pts 77&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 25pts per stumping. Prasanna Jayawardene is a decent wicket keeper who is very underrated with the bat for me. He had a good series against England when we were there at the end of last year and looks to me to be a batsman who likes a bit of pace and bounce. He also batted well in Australia to illustrate that. Although this is expected to be a bit lower and slower than normal pitches in the caribbean edges will still carry and if spin takes over as the match goes on then stumpings are in play, especially with Sri Lanka going in with 2 main spinners and Dilshan who can bowl too. He should have every chance of covering this total with the bat but he will score points with the gloves and this target looks 10-15 too low so it's the overs for me. 10pts R.Sarwan to score 50+ in 1st Inns 11/8 Ladbrokes Ramnaresh Sarwan has a decent test match average against Sri Lanka. He averages 48.67 in 5 matches against Sri Lanka and has hit 4 half centuries in 9 innings against them. He's on his home patch in this test match and comes into the game off the back of hitting a 150 in the 4 day competition for Guyana last week so he's in good nick and if he gets in he could well go on and go well past 50. 10pts S.Chanderpaul -7.5 runs to beat C.Silva (1st Inns Only) 5/6 Ladbrokes Like Sarwan, Shivnerine Chanderpaul has a decent batting average against Sri Lanka although his is slightly more misleading because it's from only 2 matches. He averages 51.33 though so obviously knows he can repel the attack Sri Lanka pose. He plays spin well which is essential here and can be a real pain in the arse to get out once he's in. I've stated in previous bets where I've taken Chamara Silva on how I don't rate him and that low rating is even lower on bouncy pitches such as these. It's quite possible that double figures for Chanderpaul would cover this handicap but Chanderpaul made 200 in a domestic game here earlier this month and it's his home ground so he could well run up a real big score. Either way I think he'll outscore Silva by 8 or more. 1pt ew C.Vaas Top Sri Lanka Batsman (1st Inns Only) 25/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) Chaminda Vaas has been good to me in the past, bringing in top bats on occasions and placing on many others and with Sri Lanka not boasting the best batting lineup they've ever fielded out in this match it's well worth sticking with him here. Make no mistake Vaas can bat. Since the 1st Jan 2006, Vaas averages a staggering 47.00 with the bat which is all the more remarkable when you consider he bats at number 8. With that statistic in mind though and knowing Vaas can bat well on all sorts of wickets 25/1 is too big to ignore especially with it being 5/1 to make the top 3. This price makes Vaas well worth a small ew bet.