The second matches in Group B of the 2017 Champions Trophy
Wednesday 7th June
Pakistan v South Africa (Edgbaston)
South Africa defended 300 well in the first game against South Africa to record a comfortable win with Hashim Amla once again in excellent form, anchoring the innings with another hundred. Tahir then took 4 wickets at regular innings throughout the reply to ensure the win
Pakistan meanwhile was well below par in their big match against India at Edgbaston another rain-affected match at the venue. Chasing 300 they lost by a big margin in the format over 120 runs.
They are the lowest-ranked team in the tournament and it showed in inconsistent bowling, very poor fielding and batting that was quite pedestrian with a run rate a full run a ball slower than international averages since the new regulations came in. Added to their problems both Amir and Riaz, their best fast bowlers hobbled off injured.
There is no value in the outright market here, South Africa at 2/5 are strongly fancied and should win, Pakistan are priced at 5/2
There ay be an opportunity in the Top South African batsman market where Amla has been installed as the 11/4 favourite and De Kock is out to 7/2 with Ladbrokes and Coral. They normally go off joint favourites so there is some recency bias in prices yet De Kock is a very destructive batsman, can score first and if he gets in against a weakened attack is an attractive price here.
Thursday 8th June
India v Sri Lanka (The Oval)
Sri Lanka bowled tightly when putting South Africa in to bat in their first match but still conceded 300 thanks to Amla’s patient century. They suffered the suspension of temporary captain Tharanga though due to slow over-rates which is likely tomean the end of his tournament.
The Sri Lankan batting batting started well but minus the injured captain Mathews, their best and most experienced player, looked to lack depth
India were very impressive against Pakistan, with the first four in the batting all scoring over 50 and Yuvraj propelling their innings beyond 300 with big hitting in the last ten
overs. On these true pitches the perceived weakness against the moving ball is not the issue that it was on their tour of England two years ago
The fast bowling line up is impressive too with Yadav starring against Pakistan but in Kumar and Bumrah they have excellent options too, plus Ashwin and Jadeja if wickets turn later in the tournament. Although they recorded one facile win against inferior opponents India have to be seen as credible candidates to win the tournament, and they will secure a semi final place with a win here which most would expect
Once again though at 2/5 or shorter, Sri Lanka 3/1 there is not much to go at on our green listed bookmakers. Nor is it easy to narrow down which of the Indian top four might top score with Sharma, Dhawan, Kohli and Yuvraj all in form. Kohli, the best ODI batsman going, is usually the default choice around 3/1 or 100/30 and that looks sensible here.
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