We head back to The Oval for the Champions Trophy match on Thursday and we have an all-Asian clash on our hands when India meet Sri Lanka. Pakistan blew a hole in this group on Wednesday and that adds to the intrigue of this match.
India will be as good as through were they to win the match but should Sri Lanka win it then all four sides would have two points and the final matches in the group would be straight knockout.
India
The defending champions will have been delighted with their performance in the opening match and it might just be that playing Pakistan first was a godsend for them. I say that because only the knockout stages can be bigger for them than that so they are up and running immediately in the tournament.
India batted brilliantly against Pakistan. They were never going along sedately but the longer the innings went on the more brutal their hitting became with the top four all making significant contributions. They then bowled with hostility, accuracy and plenty of quality to send out a warning to the rest.
Sri Lanka
Although the margin of defeat was significant for Sri Lanka in their first match it wasn’t a complete horror show for the former world champions. In fact you would argue that 60 overs into the match with South Africa it was actually Sri Lanka who were favourites to go on and complete a win but they couldn’t finish the job.
We expected them to be strong with the bat in that first match, and indeed the tournament as a whole, but after the openers gave them such a strong start they couldn’t keep going which was a shame from their point of view. On the bright side they bowled much better than anyone was anticipating.
Team News
India are expected to name an unchanged side from the Pakistan win although if the wicket looks like offering turn then it could well mean Ravi Ashwin comes in for one of the seamers.
Sri Lanka will be forced into two changes with captain for the first game Upul Tharanga suspended and Chamara Kapugedera injured. Angelo Mathews will come in for Tharanga and lead the side but is unlikely to bowl while Danushka Gunathilaka is expected to replace Kapugedera.
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Betting
There isn’t a huge amount I like in this match for the simple reason that I have so many bases covered with India in this tournament. I think India will win this match but Sri Lanka can be dangerous and we’ve just seen one heavy favourite turned over so I’ll just let India win and enhance my tournament bet.
The bet that I do like in this match comes in the total runs market. I actually expect the runs to flow in this match. I think Angelo Mathews adds stability and authority that was missing in the middle order in the opening match and if Sri Lanka get off to a similar start I don’t think another collapse will take place. India look to be batting brilliantly and on a quick scoring ground 550.5 runs looks a low enough line to go over on.
Tips
WON – Back Over 550.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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