Cricket: India vs South Africa Test Series

[kevshat]

India and South Africa do battle in a 3 match test series which begins at 4am tomorrow. All 3 tests are live on Sky. Schedule

March 2008
Wed 26 - Sun 30 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT	1st Test - India v South Africa MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
April 2008
Thu 3 - Mon 7 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT	2nd Test - India v South Africa Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Fri 11 - Tue 15 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT	3rd Test - India v South Africa Green Park, Kanpur

Series odds

	India	1.57	1.5	1.61	1.61	1.57	1.66	1.5	1.66	1.61	1.61	1.57	1.61
	Draw	4	4.5	4	4	4	4.5	4.33	4	3.5	4	3.75	4.5
	South Africa	4.5	5	4.33	4.33	4.5	4	4.5	4.33	5	4.33	4.5	4.7

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: India vs South Africa Test Series India look like solid favourites for this series but I don't think there's a great deal of value in 4/6 especially as eyes could turn towards the lucrative IPL as this series wears on. I'll take 2 outrights though. 4pts A.Kumble Top India Series Bowler 5/4 Stan James Given that South Africa traditionally have a fallability in playing spin I think it's best to concentrate on the spinners for the top bowler market which would narrow our possibilities down to Harbhajan and Kumble. Both are excellent bowlers and both are in good touch. I just give Kumble the edge here though. He has an excellent record in Chennai and will also expect to go well in Ahmedabad. As captain he's guaranteed to play the 3 test matches, injury aside. Harbhajan also has a good record in Chennai, although not as good as Kumble and if any pitches look like assisting the seamers then he may be the man to give way. Kumble has 80 wickets in 19 matches against South Africa which gives me further belief he could be the biggest danger to the Proteas batsmen. Of the seamers, RP Singh has shown his quality in tests in both Australia and England but these conditions are more likely to favour spin so Kumble is the call. 1pt A.Prince Top South African Series Batsman 8/1 Stan James Much of the money in this market will go on Jacques Kallis and that's probably rightly so but I can't help but feel Ashwell Prince is massively overpriced here. Kallis was head and shoulders the main man when South Africa went to Pakistan at the end of 2007 but Ashwell Prince has a good record in India. Most importantly, Ashwell Prince is probably the best player of spin in this South African lineup and if their batsmen do get a trial by spin he'll be the happiest of them. Jacques Kallis is no mug against spin but he does sometimes struggle with it and with Kallis being a top price 5/2, Ashwell Prince could offer some value batting at number 5.