ICC Cricket World Cup

[Swooperman]

263-8 in the end & that should be too many for the Irish. NZ havent looked at all convincing mind you & the worry is that Bond has an off day as well, sprays it around & gets whacked/edged all over the place, getting Ireland up with the rate & a good start. I cant really see it tbh & I think Bond will do damage & then NZ have the likes of Styris, Vettori & Patel to take the pace off & push Ireland out of it.
NZ havent looked brilliant though but they'll hope this is their bad batting performance out the way

[Swooperman]

Bit of a hammering in the end but NZ were worried a couple of times. Having all your top 8 making double figures but only 3 getting more than 22 isnt healthy mind you, but if its their bad performance they'll take it

SA vs WIs tomorrow, & for WIs its a knock out match. They were effectively out until Bangladesh shook the world upside down with a result that the Proteas have amazingly blamed on 'cabin fever' a remark which will see many happy to see them lose again. SA cant shake off the chokers tag though & although this isnt do or die for them a defeat means they'd have to beat not only England & KP but NZ as well.
WIs have took a lot of flak but theyve an unexpected chance to turn this around even though they looked in disarray last week. Weather looks ok if cloudy & its expected there'll be a bit of damp early on. This ground has hosted 8 ODIs before but its effectively being talked of as a new ground as it was totally renovated after a 2004 hurricane. I've not got it written in my records that the pitch has been dug up though, & looking at the records Chris Gayle likes this place.
Gayle is massive in WIs fortunes. They stormed to the Champions Trophy final with him in form & are struggling with him out of form here. I'm backing him to come to the party here. If it is the same square, hes taken 8-83 in his last 2 ODIs here & averaged 39 with the bat. Going with that it means SA may struggle with no spin but WIs are baiing talked of as playing 3 seamers.
Gibbs will miss out for SA which costs them with the bat & in the field & Loots Bosman may open with De Villiers dropping into Gibbs slot.
I feel that although SA are favourites, odds of 2/5 are disproportionate, & there has to be value in WIs

Match 37
1: WIs @ 7/4 B365 8pnts
2: WIs +2.5/25.5 @ 10/11 B365 11pnts
3: WIs 15ovs +9.5 @ 5/6 Sp.Odds 6pnts
4: Gayle match runs @ 7/1 Lads 2.5pnts
4a:Chanderpaul match runs @ 7/1 Lads 2.5pnts
4b:Kallis match runs @ 6/1 Lads 3pnts
5: WIs openers under 25 @ 2/1 Cbet 6pnts
5a:WIs openers under 10 @ 6/1 B365 1.5pnts
6: SA openers under 25 @ 5/2 Cbet 6pnts
6a:SA openers under 10 @ 7/1 B365 1.5pnts
7: Bravo perf.41+ @ 5/6 B365 6pnts
8: Ramdin perf.29+ @ 5/6 B365 6pnts
9: Gayle perf.51+ @ 5/6 B365 6pnts
10:Gayle MOM @ 17/2 B365 2pnts

[Swooperman]

Sky have just been doing a piece on Grenada, they said the square has been 'relaid with bare patches' & is expected to play slow & low

[Pie-chucker]

Once NZ had won the toss, the handicap looked in the bag. (Except during most of the Kiwi innings ). + 40 pts.

Hard to have a big opinion about either SA or Windies plus new track head-scratching. As Swoops' bets suggest, a lot seems to come down to whether Gayle can wake up.

SELL multi-fours @ 390 at 0.25
Powell MoM @ 28-1 at 2pts (Cbet)
Windies +2.5/+25.5 @ 10-11 at 11pts

+ 260 in running

[kiwimike]

Originally Posted by Swooperman

Match 36
1: NZ -6.5/85.5 @ 10/11 Sp.Odds 22pnts

Great call on the match handicap there Swoops, i sadly picked Ireland +93 runs....buggar!!...i should have known better than to bet against you ...lol...ah well....lesson learned...

Well done mate and i'm glad you cashed in!

[Pie-chucker]

Our chum Loots Bosman may open for SA with Smith.

Last 3 times this dynamic duo of Smith and Bosman strolled out at start of innings windmilling arms have resulted in scores of (lantern-jaw first):

0-0; 0-6; 1-22.

SA are favourites across the board to get off to the better 10 or 15 over start and I'm not sure why. Which brings us back to Mr Gayle. For whom I will not put up recent figures as it goes against my argument.

Or punt, which is this:

Sell SA/Windies first 15 overs @ 6 at 2.5 pts.

[Swooperman]

Something I meant to add to this last night, even though the ground has changed a lot & been relaid, is that WIs have won their last 3 here, but SA won the 2 before that. Also WIs have won the last 4 meetings in major tourneys, ie 1996 & 2003 WCs (I think) & the last 2 in the Champions Trophy

[Swooperman]

Well, what do you say about this Theres some strange goings on in this match for sure, what with Lara not trying to change the pace until about the 30th over, especially considering Gayles recent bowling record here.......& the 3rd power play not being taken until the 46th over
Tony Cozier on the radio on the way home was absolutely scathing & not only are WIs going to bat to stay in the competition, but surely theyre also batting for Laras job & perhaps his reputation & legacy
Boucher & Gibbs have put on 51 in the last 4 overs & with 3 overs to go, 2 with fielding restrictions, SA sit on 311-3.
They'll likely get 350 I'd think & obviously thats a mammoth total but....& it is only a but.....if you were going to tell me all of the above & say that SA had only lost 3 wickets I'd expect the score to be big enough for SA to be safe. Now I'm not saying 350 isnt massive, obviously it is....looks more like 340 actually as I type....but, particularly with what seems a shortish boundary one side, where Kallis hit his over cover 6, I wouldnt say WIs are without a chance. I dont mean its likely, far from it & everything has to go their way, but I wouldnt rule such a totally unpredictable side as the WIs out of this, although obviously theyre going to be down in that dressing room.
They have no choice but to go for it as theyre out if they lose, & certainly Gayle, Lara, Sarwan & Chanderpaul all have to contribute, particularly the openers.....ooh, 346-3 with an over left ok, its 360 then. Still, whats another 10 runs when you need nearly 400

Well, if they do it it'll be worth watching, & the fact that SA only have the part time rubbish of Smith to take the pace off shouldnt be overlooked. I'm in for a kicking here if they go down so in for a penny:

1a:WIs @ 11.0 Betfair 2pnts



According to Cricinfo Collymores bowling his 11th over

[Swooperman]

356-4 & I'm on the chasing side

....& I've just backed them again

[Colbro]

De Villiers won't field and there must be some doubt about Gibbs - they are two of SA's better fielders. That is one plus for The WIndies. Kallis also had some strapping put on his ankle during his innings as well so maybe he will not bowl. Another plus.
However I can't see Hall,Nel,Ntini and Pollock bowling anything like as badly as WIndies did (with no Jerome Taylor). 77 off power play 3 and 14 sixes in total and the pitch is not that bad. Very poor and lacklustre fielding too.
SA should not have got more than 280 so a small buy of their supremacy at 95 on spin

[Pie-chucker]

Watched the first 10 overs. SA 37-1 about. Limping along. Went to bed. Just woke up to the score. Where did that come from? Blimey. Anyway, Windies reply just begun. Needs a nice bedrock 190 from Gayle!

[Computer Guy]

howzabout a nice 4 from Chanderpaul instead?

[Colbro]

WIndies 214-8 so close my supremacy bet at 115 for 23 point profit.
Been a bad day so far so take profit and crack open a san miguel

[Swooperman]

They had a go, bless 'em.....but I did think my hcap of only 25.5 runs was in a slight bit of trouble half way.
Wicket played well but it was bare as fcuk & that is the type of thing I had in mind regarding used pitches in the super-8s. Over a period of 12 days & 6matches on 4 strips I can see it getting lower & lower.
Need a bit of a result in the Bangle/England game but I'll sleep on my bets tbh. Barbados has helped the slowies at times in the past & as Bangladesh have 37 spinners I can see England getting bogged down.
Ever since the Bangles played the Aussies in that 22 over slog & lost 4 wickets in the first 8 overs theyve gone for the solid platform approach, & the only side they wont be worried about getting off to a flyer against them is....England
Personally I can see it being close & I'm tempted with the Bangles :wasntme

[Computer Guy]

Originally Posted by Swooperman

I'm tempted with the Bangles :wasntme

they certainly had more going for them than the Spice Girls imo.