The Three Big Questions
When will a total of 500 become possible?
The big bats, small grounds, two new balls from each end, and four fielders maximum allowed out of the ring at any one time, are combining to make one day cricket too advantageous for batsman. The generous new rules have seen a raft of big scores where 300 is the new 220 and 400 is the new 300. Hundreds come from 31 balls now, and double hundreds are becoming more common. Soon, 500 will be scored in an one day international, and 400 will be chased down regularly. The 500 mark won’t be reached during this World Cup but will follow shortly after if the rules don’t even out.
Hero of the Cup so far?
Brendon McCullum’s courageous effort to continued with a badly bruised arm after being pinned by Mitchell Johnson deserves a mention. So too, the performances of Ireland against the West Indies and Afghanistan against Scotland. But our favourite hero is the unassuming UAE batsman, Shaiman Anwar. Anwar’s already composed a half century and a century and leads bigger names like McCullum and Kohli in the top run-scorers charts. The 35-year-olds a big reason the UAE have been competitive, and for that he’s our hero of the Cricket World Cup so far. FYI – he’s at $4.50 to top score for his side today.
And the villain?
Even though David Warner has been relatively unsighted in the World Cup he’s still villainous by nature. The umpires could also have claim to being villains on a number of occasions – most of all their abysmal effort to deprive James Taylor a possible hundred against Australia on day one. Neither of them are getting the award though, that goes to the Canberra crowd, where it was alleged they racially abused Imran Tahir. Not on.
Today’s Matchups
1. Pakistan v UAE, McLean Park (Napier – fine but cloudy), starts 2:00pm local time
Pakistan – $1.08
UAE – $8.00
Pakistan responded well enough to their must win game against Zimbabwe in their last outing, and they’ll need another strong performance today to see off a UAE side that have by no means disgraced themselves. Pakistan’s brittle campaign needs another win, preferably a big win for net run rate purposes to force Ireland out of the one of the knockout stages places.
They’ll need to drastically improve their batting effort and ensure they give their impressive bowlers something sizeable to defend. More than the 160, 224 and 235 they’ve put together thus far.
UAE have based themselves in Napier for some time and should be familiar with the conditions after playing many practice matches in the region. They lost to club sides in those warm up games though, so will be hoping the big stage of the World Cup brings out the best of their players.
2. Australia v Afghanistan, WACA (Perth – scorching hot), starts 2:30pm local time
Australia – $1.02
Afghanistan – $15.00
Australia get the chance for some much needed batting practice in a game that is probably better described as an open wicket practice session between David and Goliath. No disrespect intended to Afghanistan, but this will be about as one sided as you can get. The Aussies will be hurting from their New Zealand loss and we expect them to take it out on the hapless tourists.
Afghanistan’s major strength is the seam bowling options they have at their disposal. Unfortunately, they haven’t been as effective in Australian conditions as they have been in New Zealand. It’s a point that could prove decisive, as Ireland outlined yesterday, without early wickets the test nations have too much depth to not post a huge total.
Today’s Multi
Every Australian batsman is queuing up for a big innings, so it’s difficult to pick one top run getter. Especially if Afghanistan bat first and get rolled.
Napier’s McLean Park is flat. It suits Shahid Afridi’s leg skidders so we’ll back him to take more wickets than Sohail Khan at $2.08 + Shane Watson to be Man of the Match (needs Australia to bat first – he has to come good soon doesn’t he, unless he gets dropped for Faulkner?) $8.00 = $16.64
Odds from Unibet.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
