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Ricky Hatton vs Paulie Malignaggi - 22nd November 2008
Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton visits the MGM Grand; the scene of his Floyd Mayweather Jnr defeat. Hatton has changed from his long-term trainer Billy Graham to Floyd Mayweather Snr hoping a classy performance will prove his doubters wrong. However a well-seasoned Paulie Malignaggi will prove a stern test. Malignaggi has insisted Hatton is past his best and hopes to end the fight early. The bets have to been coming through fast for this boxing spectacular.

Aston Villa v Manchester United 22nd November 2008
Both teams come into this full of confidence. Aston Villa dented Arsenal’s title challenge with a well-deserved 2-0 performance at the Emirates stadium. Manchester United’s quality was evident against Stoke City as they produced a master class of style and attacking flair. Villa will be tougher opposition for United as they threaten to break into a Champions League place. However Sir Alex Ferguson will want his team to step up a gear and not lose sight of Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the table. This televised game will have goals galore and some great bet-in-play action.

ODI International Cricket – India v England 20th November 2008 – 2nd December 2008
With two defeats England will be hoping to register a win soon. India have been in full flow with some fantastic performances that have oozed class. However the England side have shown signs of a revival.

And don’t forget…
The Rugby League World Cup Final between Australia v New Zealand is taking place on 22nd November 2008 and should be some top quality Rugby action.

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Following Australia’s defeat to India this week bookie Paddy Power has opened betting on who will captain their side for the First Ashes Test against England in 2009.

The Aussie’s 2-0 defeat to India, their first series defeat by more than one Test since the late 80s, has seen widespread criticism of captain Ricky Ponting – even from his own countrymen.  The Aussie skipper was accused of failing to put victory ahead of the threat of a one-match ban by bowling second rate bowlers in the Fourth Test defeat to prevent a slow over rate.

Whilst the man known as Punter remains just 1/6 with Paddy Power to captain Australia for the First Ashes Test in Cardiff next summer, the fact a book has been opened at all suggests all is not well. Long-time captain in-waiting Michael Clarke is 9/2 second favourite with the man known as ‘Mr Cricket’ Michael Hussey at 16/1.

Shane Warne, whose captaincy skills are almost as renowned as his love of pizza, is 100/1 for a sensational comeback to lead the Baggy Greens.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: “A legendary batsman undoubtedly, but Ponting’s captaincy has crumbled more than once under pressure as we saw in India this week and The Ashes in 2005. It’s very easy to captain a winning team but Ponting’s captaincy fails to make a difference when it really matters – and the first few punts have now come in against Punter.”

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South Africa take on Bangladesh tomorrow in the final ODI from East London, live on Sky Sports 2 from 12:30pm. Following South Africa’s 128 run victory in the second ODI, which included a maiden one-day international century from Hashim Amla, Sky Bet are offering 100/30 for the South African opener again to be South Africa’s top batsman. Hashim Amla and South African captain Graeme Smith shared an opening stand of 136 in the 2nd ODI to set the Proteas on their way to sealing the series and it’s 4/11 for the South African opening pair again to have the highest opening partnership tomorrow.

The 2nd ODI saw South Africa hit a massive 13 sixes compared to Bangladesh’s five sixes (1st ODI - 4 sixes SA to 1 six Bang) and it’s 3/10 for Graeme Smith’s side to hit the most sixes in the final ODI and 4/9 to have the highest first fifteen overs score (13/8 Bangladesh & 33/1 tie).

With there only having been one run-out in each of the two previous ODI’s, both to South Africa, it’s 4/6 for there to be under 1.5 run outs in the match (11/10 over 1.5 run out) and 9/4 for South Africa to get the most wickets by means of a run-out.

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The first ODI between South Africa and Bangladesh gets underway tomorrow from Potchefstroom, live on Sky Sports 1 from 12:30pm. Following their twelve run victory in the Twenty20, South Africa go into the ODI series without opener Herschelle Gibbs after he broke a curfew. It’s likely that Justin Ontong will open the batting in Gibbs’ absence and Sky Bet are offering 4/1 for Ontong to be South Africa’s top batsman in the first ODI. South Africa are expected to win the three match series easily and are 1/9 to take the first ODI and 4/9 to hit the most sixes in the match (11/4 Bangladesh & 11/2 tie). With the South Africans boasting one of the strongest batting line-ups in ODI cricket it’s 2/5 that South Africa have the highest opening partnership (7/4 Bangladesh & 25/1 tie) and 6/4 that any batsman in the match scores a century.

Bangladesh will be looking to build on their Twenty20 performance and it’s 5/1 for the cricketing minnows to spoil the party and take the first ODI and 11/4 for them to have the highest first 15 overs score (1/4 South Africa & 33/1 tie).

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Motorsport: Formula 1- Brazilian Grand Prix
This weekend sees the final Formula 1 race of the season and a straight duel between the only two men capable of winning the drivers championship, Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and the Brazilian Felipe Massa. The Ferrari man has home advantage but Maclaren’s Hamilton really is in the driving seat with a 7 point lead over his rival and is 7/4 to win the race and 1/7 on for the title.

Cricket: Twenty20- Stanford Super Stars vs England
England take on a team of Caribbean all stars on November 1st in the Stanford 20/20 for 20 match in which the winning team walks away with $20 million dollars and loser with NOTHING. With two teams having the chance to win such life-changing sums of money this game promises to be an exciting and dramatic showpiece.

Horseracing
The jump season really kicks off this weekend with the big race being the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.

US Presidential Elections
On November 4, America picks a new president. The Republican Party candidate is John McCain, the, Senator from Arizona as its nominee; the Democratic Party has chosen Barack Obama, Senator from Illinois, as its nominee.

Football : UEFA Champions League: Matchday 4, 4th-5th November. Key Ties: Roma vs Chelsea, Liverpool vs Atletico, Arsenal vs Fenerbache, Celtic vs Man Utd.
Rugby Union: Investec Challenge Series, England vs Pacific Islands, Twickenham, 8th November

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The widely criticised Stanford Super Series reaches its climax on Saturday and those interested in cricket spread betting could be in for a real treat if Pietersen and his men go all out for victory. Sporting Index are offering new spread accounts the chance to win £100 if KP goes on to be England’s top scorer in the match. They have a fair shout and buyers of his match performance (where you are awarded a point per run, 10 per catch, 20 per wicket and 25 per stumping) will be pleased to hear that the captain is England’s top overall scorer in Twenty20 with 412 runs. Sellers of his performance on the spreads will be even more worried that KP is the joint top individual innings scorer for England, along with Paul Collingwood with 79 runs, and he has taken the most catches for the side (7).

No England player has ever scored a century for the national side at Twenty20 and only eight 50’s had been made before the start of the Stanford Tournament. With performance spread betting in cricket, it often pays to side with the bowlers and buyers of Paul Collingwood performance have a lot to cheer about. Colly now tops England’s T20 bowlers, with 15 wickets from 16 matches, but alongside this, his 339 runs from 15 innings also show that he is one to keep firmly on the right side of.

The weekend Premier League action kicks off with the lunchtime fixture between Everton and Fulham at Goodison Park. The Toffees were formidable at home last season and although Sporting Index still have them as their supremacy favourites (spread 0.5-0.7), sellers will be alarmed that they are the only team yet to win at home this season. However, buyers also have reason to be cheerful, as they face Fulham, a side who have only earned one point away from home so far, but also a side they have never lost to at home in the league. In all 14 Premier League games between these two teams, the home side has been victorious in all of them, so if that statistic is to be preserved, the buyers will be coming out in their droves to take on the Sporting Index traders. (more…)

England go into Saturday’s $20million Twenty20 shootout as the 8/13 favourites, according to bookie Paddy Power.

However the biggest talking point of the Stanford Twenty20 this week hasn’t been the megabucks on offer but the outrageous number of dropped catches at Antigua’s Stanford Cricket Ground. Paddy Power are betting on how many catches are dropped in the main game between England and the Stanford Superstars, making it just 9/4 that seven or more are spilled.

Four and five dropped catches are on offer at 5/2 whilst the unlikely scenario of all chances being held is 25/1. However despite home advantage it is the Stanford Superstars who are expected to down most catches with the bookie making them 8/13 to England’s 6/5.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: “Everybody enjoys seeing a sportsman drop a clanger, the only question in Stanford Twenty20 seems to be how many. With the poor wicket, outfield, and floodlights the dropped catches could prove to be the highlight of the match, especially with the added pressure of $20million playing on the fielders’ minds.

Skipper Kevin Pietersen is the 11/4 favourite to lead the way and top score for England.

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With the start of the Stanford Super Six just round the corner, this weekend sees the pre-tournament warm-up matches. Stanford Super Stars are 4/9 to overcome Trinidad & Tobago and England are 1/2 to beat the current English Twenty20 Cup champions, Middlesex. West Indian batsmen Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul head the betting at 3/1 and 4/1 respectively to be the top Stanford Superstars batsman against Trinidad and the Standford Superstars are 8/11 to get the highest opening partnership and 8/13 to get the highest first six overs score.

Kevin Pietersen’s England side are 8/11 to get the highest opening partnership against Middlesex on Sunday and 8/13 to get the highest first 6 overs score. Pietersen leads the charge for England’s top batsman at 10/3 with his “fellow” South African Tyron Henderson 11/2 to be Middlesex’s top batsman.

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India take on Australia in the second Test of the four match series, starting on Saturday (live on Sky Sports 2 from 5am). Sachin Tendulkar needs just 15 runs to break Brian Lara’s record tally of 11,953 and Sky Bet quote 12/1 that the Little Master is named man of the match. It’s 11/8 that he scores a half-century in India’s first innings and 4/1 that he goes on to score a century. The first Test saw Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman bat with great resistance to secure the draw for the hosts and Sky Bet are offering 2/1 for India to take the honours in Mohali (9/4 Australia & 6/5 draw).

Centuries from Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey in Australia’s first innings saw the visitors post a respectable 430 runs, 70 runs more than India and it’s 5/6 for Australia again to take a first innings lead and 5/6 for the Australian opening batsmen to post a higher score than India’s openers.

Sky Bet are also offering a selection of first innings batsman match bets on the second Test including; 5/6 for Ponting to score more runs than Tendulkar (5/6), 4/5 for Hussey to outscore India’s Dravid (10/11), 5/6 for Sehwag to outscore Hayden (5/6) and 5/6 for Gambhir to score more runs Katich (5/6).

India are 6/4 to claim the series (6/4 Australia & 9/4 draw), 10/1 to win the series 2-1 and it’s 10/3 for Tendulkar to be India’s top series batsman.

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Following England’s squad announcement for the upcoming Stanford Super Series, Sky Bet are offering 2/5 for Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel to make the starting eleven when England take to the field against the Stanford Super Stars at the beginning of November. It’s 5/2 for Alastair Cook to make the starting eleven, 2/1 for Andrew Strauss, 1/4 for Luke Wright, 1/4 for Steve Harmison, 1/7 for Owais Shah and 8/11 for Graeme Swann.

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