After the first dead rubber of the Cricket World Cup on Monday, we are back to the important stuff for the next couple of days, beginning with the clash between Bangladesh and India at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
Both these sides are still in the hunt for a semi-final berth but for Bangladesh this is a match they have to win. India will probably get in even if they don’t claim another point but they will be guaranteed a last four spot if they avoid defeat in either of their last two outings.
AllSportsBetting Podcast
Once again Kev and Steve are here with their preview of the Bangladesh vs India match. They look at Edgbaston’s dynamics and the two teams in detail before going into their bets for the contest. Click play on the video below to listen.
Bangladesh
If Bangladesh don’t make it into the semi-finals you would have to label them as the unluckiest team of the tournament. I say that because they were inches away from beating New Zealand earlier in the competition and then suffered a washed out match with Sri Lanka, which based on the tournament so far you would have expected them to come out on top in. Despite that, they are still fighting hard and wins in their last two games gives them every chance of gate crashing the final four.
I think we have seen enough in the tournament already to suggest that Bangladesh are going to be more than competitive with the bat in this match, but if they are to push on and make it into the semi-final then their bowling attack is going to have to deliver 100 overs of its very best stuff. They have been decent in the main in this event but a couple of times they have been overpowered and need to ensure that doesn’t happen again here.
India
After initially really impressing in this tournament, India have slowly shown signs of vulnerability and weakness and eventually they were beaten last time out by an impressive England performance in a match where the Indians seemed to throw in the towel from a pretty early stage. To have gone so long without being beaten was to their credit but they have been exposed a couple of times now and need to complete performance for reassurance as much as their position in the competition.
In the main the Indian bowlers have gone very well in this tournament, which is good because outside of their top three, it has been a bit of a nightmare with the bat with the exception of a couple of Hardik Pandya cameos. Injuries keep on depriving them of players which is causing a lack of continuity but when you look at this team outside of the top three and it doesn’t scare you in the way Indian sides used to.
Team News
Bangladesh had a fitness scare over Mahmudullah after he tore a calf muscle in their win over Afghanistan last time out but the week off they have had has given him sufficient time to recover so the Tigers could be unchanged.
India have seen Vijay Shankar ruled out of the tournament with a toe injury and Mayank Agarwal has been added to the squad in his place. As an opening batsman if he is to play he will have to come in for KL Rahul unless Rahul goes back to four in place of Rishabh Pant. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is waiting in the wings if India want to change bowling strategy.
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Betting
I like a few bets in this match with the first being Bangladesh on the handicap where a 6.5 wickets or 46.5 runs is just too big. Bangladesh are a lot more competitive than that and while getting the first two wickets is always tough against India, once they have then the others should come more regularly so if they are defending a score you would think they will get four wickets and I just don’t see this India batting line up going well enough with the bat to bat Bangladesh out of the game sufficiently that they won’t stay within 46 runs. That handicap is a no brainer really in a match which feels a lot closer than that, helped by the fact that India only got over the line on the final ball the last time these two met in the Asia Cup final.
This match is being played on the same pitch that the England vs India match was competed on and so we know there is going to be a short boundary to one side which means an 8.5 sixes line looks a touch on the low side to me. Bangladesh might not have an out and out hitter in their ranks but they have still clouted 17 sixes in their six innings to date. India never played a shot in anger against England but this Bangladesh attack won’t be so difficult to get after so I’m happy to take the over given the left-handers on show which will keep that short boundary in the spotlight in most overs.
I’m also happy to take the over in the match runs for Rohit Sharma and Liton Das. Sharma has a line of 36.5 which looks monstrously low. He has just banged a ton on this very wicket on Sunday, his third of this World Cup and he has a 50 on top of that as well. Sharma averages 55.60 against Bangladesh and in global competitions he has scored 137 and 123* and in the Asia Cup last year he scored 83* and 48. All things being equal he’ll go beyond 36.5 in his innings here.
Das has a good record against India. He has played against them five times officially with scores of 8, 36, 34, 7 and 121, the latter being in that Asia Cup and then when these two sides played a warm up match in Cardiff prior to this tournament he filled his boots again with 73 so there is something about the Indian attack that he likes. He has hit the ball really well throughout this tournament and his run line looks low at 21.5 anyway. Throw in his record against India and the over looks very nice.
My final bet on this match is for Shakib-al-Hasan to be the man of the match in it. Shakib is having a brilliant tournament and is the player of the competition by far in my eyes. Bangladesh need him more than ever before in this match and I expect him to deliver the goods. He is having a wonderful campaign with the bat and on a used pitch he could come into his own with the ball. There is an element of lottery to this market but one thing is for sure is that Shakib is too big at 20/1.
Tips
WON – Back Bangladesh (+6.5wickets/46.5runs) to beat India for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
Back S.al-Hasan Man of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with Betway
Back them here:
WON – Back Over 8.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
Back it here:
WON – Back R.Sharma – Over 36.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back L.Das – Over 21.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
Back him here:
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