The first set of matches come to a close in the ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday with the biggest match of the tournament so far when India take on Pakistan in a Group B clash at Edgbaston.
South Africa laid a marker down on Saturday so both sides will know this is a match they can’t afford to lose which will add to the competitiveness of it. This has all the makings of a great match.
India
The defending champions begin their defence on the ground where they won the tournament four years ago but they do so with uncertainty around the relationship between their captain and coach which threatens to cloud their campaign. When the players get on the field that should be behind them especially against this opposition.
If India are to win this match then they will want and need to bat well although they might not need the scores they used to as their bowling attack has matured into something very good. Whatever the conditions at Edgbaston you get the feeling India will have them covered and that must give them confidence.
Pakistan
The right noises are coming out of the Pakistan camp although I’m not sure the coach bigging up their chances is a good thing. I say that because Pakistan and pressure haven’t always gone together in recent times. That said Arthur is putting together a more disciplined side so if they can just add consistency to their game they’ll be dangerous.
You would think if Pakistan are going to win this match they are going to have to take early wickets. We are yet to see early wickets in this competition apart from when Australia were batting in gloomy conditions so the size of the task is a decent one it must be said. Pakistan have the firepower with the ball to do it on paper.
Team News
India’s team pretty much picks itself. The only selection issue they are likely to have is whether Mohammad Shami or Umesh Yadav is the third seamer. I would expect Shami to get the nod.
Pakistan need to decide on the make up of their side but with Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik able to bowl spin it could be that they play the extra batting all-rounder in Faheem Ashraf.
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Betting
I’m not going to go too mad with bets for this match as I’ve loaded plenty of bets on India and their players for this tournament already so hopefully we can sit back and watch all of those get off to good starts but I’m going to side with one of those for this match.
Shikhar Dhawan averages 43.66 in ODI cricket against Pakistan and we all know the form that he is in at the present time. To add to that form he looked good in both the warm up matches that he played so I am surprised his run line is as low as 30.5. In three ODIs at Edgbaston he has scores of 48, 31 and 97* so the stats suggest he will cover this line as does the pattern of the tournament so far with the bat dominating the ball.
Tips
WON – Back S.Dhawan – Over 30.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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