There is one match on the schedule at the Cricket World Cup on Friday as two Asian sides in desperate need for a win battle it out in Bristol when Pakistan go up against Sri Lanka in a clash between two sides who won their last outing.
That is the plan at least although the likelihood is that we may not see any play at all as the forecast for the Bristol area is worse than terrible and there doesn’t even appear to be a window where we might find some play.
AllSportsBetting Podcast
With play extremely unlikely in this match, Kev and Steve take the opportunity to reflect on what we’ve seen in the tournament so far and what we have to look forward to in the coming weeks. Click play below for their thoughts!
Pakistan
After what can only be described as a debacle in their opening match, Pakistan went from the ridiculous to the subline for their second outing against England. I mentioned heading into that match that visiting the crime scene so soon after the offence was not necessarily going to be easy for them but they showed a good mental strength to produce the performance that they did and thoroughly deserved their victory.
Pakistan exorcised their demons with the bat by putting up close to 350 and then they showed what they have got with the ball when they picked up wickets at the right time throughout the innings and then held their nerve towards the end of the piece when things were getting tough and tense. That was the benchmark for a Pakistan performance in this tournament and now they must go and back that up regularly.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka were also winners in their previous outing and although there wasn’t much about their victory over Afghanistan that was convincing, they do deserve a little credit for getting over the line when every man and his dog has been queuing up to stick the boot into them. They will have to improve if they are to be anything but a team making up the numbers in this tournament and they will hope the win boosts them enough to find that improvement.
What I did like about the Sri Lanka win over Afghanistan was the fight, spirit and heart they showed. They won’t have needed telling that they messed up their batting effort and the rain that came had them even more up against it when it came to defending the score. Better sides than them have folded in those situations so it is to their credit that they had enough about them to rally and come away with the win.
Team News
Pakistan have spoken about finding consistency in their team selection so they are likely to be unchanged after such a good win although there might not be a need for three spin options in which case Shoaib Malik could make way for Haris Sohail.
Sri Lanka have no discernible need to make any changes to their side. Jeevan Mendis will want in on the action but with all the rain around and Bristol having short boundaries you would think he will have to wait for his recall.
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Betting
As much as I love solving betting puzzles sometimes you have to admit defeat when the likelihood of no action is weighted as heavily as is the case in this match. There are times when I am happy to take forecasts and predictions with a pinch of salt but when the whole of the lower half of the UK has heavy rain on the radar and floods are even being spoken of then we know there is little point here.
If there is any play then we can at least sit back and hope that Babar Azam and Lasith Malinga enhance their positions in the respective outright markets we are on them in. if they are able to do that then we will have got something out of the day although I am really not expecting any play. I’ll save the time and money for Saturday’s double header.
Tips
No Bet
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