CRICKET BETTING: Live on SkySports 1: Fri 17.00: The cricket T20 World Cup gets underway this Friday in Guyana, West Indies. Australia are 7/2 with Boylesports to win in 2010.
This years T20 World Cup promises to be a close affair with many teams in with a fair shout of making the final.
Australia, who did not manage a single point at last year’s competition, are 7/2 favourite (Boylesports) ahead of Friday’s opening match. The Australians should never be written off, the squad has undergone major changes since last year, most notably the installation of Michael Clarke as captain after Ponting’s retirement.
Australia will be without controversial batsmen Andrew Symonds or Matthew Hayden, who both found great patches of form during the IPL. Instead, Australia will look to to either the Hussey brothers or, perhaps, young David Warner. Warner was one of only 4 players to hit a ton in the IPL this year and did pretty well throughout. He is 3/1 with Paddy Power to be top batsmen for Australia.
India, hosts of the high profile IPL competition, are 5/1 with Skybet to win in the West Indies. The decision of Sachin Tendulkar to not participate in T20 matches for his national side must have been hard for the fans to swallow but further bad news comes in the form of an injury to swashbuckling batsmen, Verinder Sehwag. These 2 omissions are surely stopping India from being favourites. All eyes and hopes will fall on the skipper, MS Dhoni, to prevail without the two talismen. Dhoni may look to Murali Vijay to provide serious runs and he is 7/2 with bet365 to top score for India.
England go into this tournament with less preparation than many of the better cricketing nations, only a handful of the squad were actually playing IPL cricket. They are 11/1 with Betdaq, putting them about 7th fav overall, a negative outlook indeed.
However, perhaps this is the sort of under-estimation that an England team needs before an international competition to help them relax. Big-hitter Kevin Pietersen is 3/1 with William Hill to carry over his impressive stint in the IPL, where he had the highest average score of the competition. There are concerns he might miss a few games if his wife goes into labour so ,should england progress into the semi finals, perhaps captain Paul Collingwood would be a long term option at 11/2 with Bodog to top score for England.
Next in the betting are South Africa at 5/1 (Blue Square), closely followed by Sri Lanka at 6/1 (Totesport). These 2 teams have great pedigree in the previous T20 World Cups, and currently occupy first and second spot in terms of wins to games played ratio. South African vice-captain Jacques Kallis, who oozed class at the IPL, is 10/3 joint fav with Totesport to be top scorer.
Sri Lanka have a fearsome squad on paper and the classy Mahela Jayawerdene is 7/2 with Bodog to top score for them. Sri Lanka can go all the way if some of their big names can all contribute well.
Elsewhere, new comers Afghanistan are 750/1 with Victor Chandler to win outright but will just enjoy the experience and occasion all the same. England are in a group with hosts West Indies and are actually slim 2nd favs at 11/10 (Boylesports) to win the group, an attractive price if players such as Pietersen, Morgan and Swann all provide.
Vijay is a great bet at 20/1 with Boylesports to be top competition scorer, e/w terms are 1/4 for the top 4 scorers. The small boundaries will be music to the ears for a man who has no trouble at hitting a six. Mitchell Johnson is a 16/1 chance with William Hill to be top wicket taker.
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