Pakistan still the ICC World Twenty20 pick

The phoney war is over and the ICC World Twenty20 begins in earnest now that the competition has reached the Super Eight stage having waved goodbye to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe following the dull group games.

Bookmakers saw enough in the dozen group matches to change their minds about which team they think is the most likely to win the fourth ICC World Twenty20 tournament, with India giving way to South Africa at the top of most winner markets even though the Indians were extremely impressive in beating the defending champion, England, by 90 runs in Colombo.

Punting on the winner ICC World Twenty20 remains one of the most difficult assignments in sports betting because, truth be told, there is very little to choose between the eight sides who have qualified for the second round-robin phase.

But Pakistan remains the pick of the prices, with bookmakers listing it at around 6-1 to edge Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

No national side has played more Twenty20 internationals during the current official rankings period than Pakistan and, also, it is the most successful team in the albeit short history of the ICC World Twenty20 event. Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 title in England after finishing runner-up to India in South Africa two years earlier.

Pakistan is an enigmatic team but Twenty20 cricket lends itself to the Pakistani players. Of the big sides, the so-called Green Shirts make the most appeal at the odds and they have been excellent in their victories over Bangladesh and New Zealand so far in the Sri Lanka-hosted tournament.

Punters who did not think too hard about betting on the top ICC World Twenty20 run scorer are sitting pretty following Brendon McCullum`s record-breaking innings of 123 in New Zealand`s 59-run victory over Bangladesh. McCullum went into the competition as the world`s top-ranked Twenty20 batsman but he was trading at around 33-1 because there was a fair chance that the Black Caps would fall at the first hurdle given that they were grouped with the Pakistanis and the Bangladeshis. Now New Zealand is through to the Super Eight stage and McCullum has a 50-run lead over Luke Wright, the swashbuckling Kiwi is the clear favourite at around 9-4.

It is 5-1 the field in the much more competitive ICC World Twenty20 top wicket taker market, with Sri Lanka`s Ajantha Mendis leading the way having snared six victims, one more than four others. Mendis took 6-8 against Zimbabwe, the best bowling figures in any Twenty20 match, but he missed Sri Lanka`s 32-run loss to South Africa with a side strain.

The word out of Sri Lanka is that Mendis is struggling to prove his fitness for the host nation`s game versus New Zealand on Thursday, with team officials talking up the bowlers who will play if the spinner is ruled out.

Therefore, do not even think about backing the 5-1 favourite before Sri Lanka names its team to face the Black Caps. The home side is in the weaker of the two Super Eight stage sections so Mendis will be a worthy market leader if he can shake off his fitness concerns and turn over his arm.

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26/09/2012     © Frixo 2024