A slightly different approach today. Rather than answer the three pressing questions of world cricket, we’re updating the odds on our favourite Cricket World Cup markets:
The Odds Update
The Cricket World Cup Winner
Australia are firming as overwhelming favourites despite their Pool game loss against New Zealand at Eden Park. Two huge totals against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan has reaffirmed the punters belief. New Zealand has shortened to second favourites as the pre-tournament and current odds indicate:
Australia – $2.90 $2.30
New Zealand – $6.00 $4.20
South Africa – $4.00 $4.50
India – $10.00 $5.50
Sri Lanka – $11.00 $20
The Top Run-Scorer
Kumar Sangakkara has such an appetite for runs that it’s hard to see him lose this lead unless his side can’t make the semi-finals (giving one player two more innings than him). He’ll look to feast out again today against Scotland and could make it four hundreds in a row. Amla and de Villiers also looking good on that list.
Kumar Sangakkara (372) – $15.00 $4.50
AB de Villiers (318) – $14.00 $5.50
Shikhar Dhawan (333) – $41.00 $6.00
Hashim Amla (295) – $11.00 $6.50
Virat Kohli (263) – $15.00 $12.00
David Warner (243) – $9.00 $12.00
Brendon McCullum (249) – $15.00 $13.00
The Top Wicket-Taker
The swing bowlers dominate the top few places on the wicket-taking charts with left armers Starc and Boult the favourites. Both New Zealand and Australia have final matches left against lesser nations (apologies Bangladesh) to up the tally ahead of the knockout stages. The two New Zealanders also play their knockout games in Wellington and Auckland (if they win) and both venues have taken swing in the tournament so far.
Mitchell Starc (12) – $10.00 $5.00
Trent Boult (13) – $26.00 $5.50
Tim Southee (13) – $23.00 $5.50
Mohammed Shami (12) – $51.00 $10.00
Daniel Vettori (12) – $34.00 $10.00
Ravi Ashwin (11) – $67.00 $13.00
Today’s Matchup
Scotland v Sri Lanka, Bellerive Oval (Hobart – fine weather forecast), starts 2:30pm local time.
Scotland – $13.00
Sri Lanka – $1.03
Sri Lanka can reaffirm their third place position in Pool A and get some practice ahead of their quarterfinal showdown with South Africa or Pakistan. In seeking their fourth win of the tournament they’ll hope to bury some Glenn Maxwell shaped demons, and find a better solution to death bowling. They’ll also hope Herath is available to reduce the pressure on young spinners Prassana or Senanayake. Dinesh Chandimal has left the tournament injured, and in his absence the batsman can feast out on runs against Scotland’s inexperienced attack.
Scotland have two games left to find a World Cup win. Their most recent effort was one of their best. A total of 318 thanks largely to Kyle Coetzer against Bangladesh might have been enough on another day, and they’ll need something similarly impressive today to compete with Sri Lanka.
Today’s Bet
The “Preston is in England not in Scotland” Bet.
A bet celebrating England’s early World Cup exit with a slap in the face top score by a bloke with the same name as a city in Lancashire.
Preston Mommsen to Top Score – $6.50
Odds taken from Sportsbet.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
