The second semi-final of the Champions Trophy sees the defending champions up against the surprise package of the tournament as India host Bangladesh in Birmingham on Thursday. The winners now know they will face Pakistan in the final in London on Sunday.
India were winners of Group B although they were made to work hard for it while Bangladesh made it into this semi-final by holding their nerve in a must win match against New Zealand to finish behind England in Group A.
India
I think most judges assumed India were going to bat well in this tournament and they have been proven right. It wasn’t much of a call in fairness given that their top five consists of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni – all great modern players. The concerns came over their bowling.
In many ways those concerns still remain although when they needed to step up and be counted in the field against South Africa they did and they were and that will give them confidence heading into this match. They will need to bowl well again but perhaps not as well as previously given how well their batsmen are playing.
Bangladesh
If you had offered Bangladesh the semi-finals heading into the tournament they would have taken it and if you’d done so either after their first match which was a big defeat to England or midway through their second they definitely would. While they were lucky to be in the tournament after two games they took full advantage in their third.
All through this tournament Bangladesh have bowled better than expected. That hasn’t always come with reward in the wickets section but they’ve been tougher to get away than most have given them credit for while with the bat they have been brilliant. They have reached 300 against England and could have done against New Zealand if they had needed to.
Team News
India are unlikely to make too many changes to the side which won their last game against South Africa. Ravi Ashwin played in that and they looked better for it. He is likely to keep Umesh Yadav out of the side.
Bangladesh may also keep the same side from their previous match even though it was a surprise that Mehedi Hasan wasn’t included. Everyone contributed who needed to against New Zealand.
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Betting
The stakes went higher for these two on Wednesday when tournament favourites England got dumped out of the competition and that might not be the best thing for Bangladesh. If India needed their minds focusing on this match then the insane amount of upsets that have been taking place in this tournament will have done that. I’m on India outright though so I’m happy to sit on that.
I do think this will be a high scoring match though. It has been hard to judge matches at Edgbaston in this tournament because they have all been rain interrupted but that isn’t going to be the case in this match with the forecast perfect. Edgbaston is one of the highest scoring grounds in the country and these two batting line ups are in fine order.
Unlike the first semi-final this match is expected to be played on a fresh wicket so I’m expecting the runs to flow once again. 530.5 runs is the match line and that could have been adjusted lower than normal on the back of a lack of runs here but that has been weather induced rather than pitch orientated.
Shakib al Hasan has a good record against India and he is obviously in good form after his wonderful century in Bangladesh’s previous match and at 11/2 he’s a decent price to top score. I’m not surprised Shakib has a good record against the Indians as he has faced their bowlers regularly in the Indian Premier League and he’s played enough in England to carry on going well. He’s my pick for the Bangladesh top batsman.
Tips
Back Over 530.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
Back S.al Hasan Top Bangladesh Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 6.50 with Skybet
Back him here:
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