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.
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.
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.
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.
Today saw the England selectors name their fifteen man squad for the Stanford Super Series and Sky Bet are offering 8/13 for England to get off to a winning start when they face the Stanford Super Stars at the beginning of November. It’s 4/1 for there to be a partnership of 100 runs or more in the opening game, 10/1 for any batsman to score a century, 33/1 for any bowler to take a hat-trick and 16/1 for the winning runs to be hit off the last ball of the 20th over.
Lancashire all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is 5/1 to score a half century against the Stanford Super Stars and it’s 3/1 for the England captain to lead from the front and score 50 runs or more.
The Premier League season is well underway and Chelsea still top the Sporting Index season points tally with a spread of 84-85.5. Man United sit just below at 81.5-83, but it is worth remembering that they only picked up two points in their first three games last season, before going on to lift the title with 87 points.
Chelsea face Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and Luiz Felipe Scolari will be delighted that his side has won two games in a row. Buyers of their supremacy on the spreads will be encouraged that Spurs haven’t won at the Bridge since 1990, whilst Chelsea supremacy sellers will also be concerned that Spurs have lost nine of their last 12 away games against the Big Four. However, spread betting provides the perfect option for in-running punting and those punters should take note that the North Londoners have gone into the break level in 11 of their past 16 away games against the Big Four. Sellers of the time of the first Blues’ goal will be pleased to hear that Chelsea have scored the first goal in 14 of their last 20 games at Stamford Bridge, whilst buyers of the time of the first Spurs goal will be delighted that they have conceded the first goal in 11 of their last 12 against the Big Four. (more…)
The sporting action continues as we move forward into August, with Glorious Goodwood rounding out a fantastic week’s racing on Saturday. England will be aiming to draw level in their series against the South Africans at Edgbaston, while Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton looks to stretch his points lead at the Hungaroring in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Weekend Racing from Goodwood-Live on Saturday, Channel 4, 2:00pm
Glorious Goodwood comes to a climax on Saturday with a seven race card, including the Group One Nassau Stakes at 3:15pm. (more…)
We have a fantastic weekend of summer sport for you this weekend, with finals day in cricket’s Twenty20 cup, the semi finals of rugby league’s Challenge Cup, and great day of racing from Ascot.
Weekend Racing from Ascot-Live on Saturday, BBC2, 2:15pm
The weekends’ racing takes us to Ascot, and the big race is the seven furlong Totesport International Handicap at 3:40pm. Redford and Lovelace are battling it out for favouritism, and are both 5/1 with BetWithRed, while second favourite is Musaalem at 7/1. Redford is in an impressive run of form, having won three of his last five starts, while Lovelace has finished first and second respectively in his last two races. (more…)
The Open will be well underway now, but with literally hundreds of in-running spread markets, there are plenty more opportunities to follow your judgement over the weekend. Prior to the tournament, Sporting Index had the winning margin spread at 1.6-1.9, so sellers will be pleased to hear that five of the last 10 Open Championships have gone to a play-off, including the last one played here at Royal Birkdale in 1998. The course is regarded as one of the best and toughest in the world, so there will be plenty of punter interest in the winning score market. The spread was set pre-tournament at 276-277, which suggests we are in for a similar renewal to last year (Garcia and Harrington were tied at 7 under after 277 shots). Sellers will be delighted to hear that five of the last eight winners have posted scores lower than 276, but before you start to scream “sell, sell”, be warned that three of those victories were by a certain Mr Woods. When Mark O’Meara won here in 1998, he won at level-par, having played 280 shots for the 72 holes, whilst buyers will be praying for a repeat of the infamous Lawrie-Van de Velde battle at Carnoustie a year later, when the Scot eventually won in a play-off, with a 6 over par score of 290. (more…)
The first test between England and South Africa is already underway, but there are still some interesting stats for spread bettors to get their teeth into. South Africa are the 51-55 to England’s 38-42 favourites in the Sporting Index series win index (where you are awarded 25 points per victory and 10 per draw), but they haven’t won a test series on English soil since 1965. The last series back in 2003 saw some heavy wins, perfect spread betting punters who have a strong view on the outcome this time round. However, those who fancy one side in the series win index should be aware that in the post-Apartheid era each side has won two of the six series, with the other two being drawn. (more…)