THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Sunday’s T20 World Cup clash between India v Pakistan with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s the game that stops the cricketing world, but will the weather allow it to happen? The ICC will be very nervous looking at the weather forecast in Melbourne given the money at stake for this game – it appears so rarely! It would also be a big shame from a trading point of view on BETDAQ Betting Exchange should we lose the game because there’s bound to be big drama! Although this fixture is very rare in world cricket, we did have it recently in the Asia Cup – Pakistan chased down India’s 181/7 in Dubai, so India will want a bounce back win here.
There’s no bigger bragging rights to world cricket than this fixture. You might say The Ashes, but we see that fixture a lot more and it’s always around the corner too. It is a big shame that we have weather worries for Melbourne with showers forecast right throughout the game. At the moment, you would have to say it’s a slight favourite that we actually get a game in but there isn’t much in it. We’re going to have reduced overs either way, and we could even see a five over game which will be very dramatic. Pakistan have had issues with their middle order and were missing some key bowlers coming into this World Cup while India seem rock solid. India do have selection issues, but it’s mainly due to a wealth of talent rather than anything else.
India are without their key bowler Jasprit Bumrah, while Shaheen Afridi came back in a warm-up match. One wonders if Pakistan will risk him here with wet conditions, but surely you have to take the chance in the World Cup. This game is massive because of the weather conditions in Australia – we could see plenty of games washed out so the loser could really be on the backfoot.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
In general you have to work hard for runs in the MCG. The playing area is so big we don’t see many sixes, and we see a lot of twos and threes run. It’s going to be a slog for both batting sides, especially with the outfield likely to be slow given the weather. As I said above, there are a lot of showers forecast and it’s really going to be about whether they hit or miss, and how long for. Obviously the ground staff will be under immense pressure to get a game in from the ICC, but there’s going to be a lot of radar watching here. It’s hard to know what a par score will be, because we’re unlikely to see 20 overs a side anyway.
RECOMMENDED BET:
India come into this game as heavy favourites trading around the 1.55 mark, but I would definitely have the sides closer together. I’m happy to take the value on Pakistan at 2.64 because I expect a closer game than the odds suggest. There’s also a lot of ways that this game gets close too – it’s hard to have a big favourite in a 10 over bash never mind a 5 over game. Given all the weather worries too, the toss is surely a huge factor here as well. There’s isn’t much between the sides and while I fully accept that India are the better side, we won’t have a full 20 over game here which reduces the pressure on the Pakistan batting – that’s always a positive from a Pakistan point of view and as I said above, there’s a lot going on here to make this a close game.
The Edge Says:
Two points win Pakistan to beat India at 2.64 with Betdaq Exchange.
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/IndPkn
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
The in-running strategy for this game is going to fully focus on the weather. As I said above, we are very unlikely to see a full 20 over game here so it’s just about reacting to the situation. The toss is big, and surely you have to bowl first given the forecast especially when you could have a very shortened chase. Because we won’t have a full game, it’s hard to say what a par score here is so I wouldn’t go into the game thinking the bat will win over the ball. What I would say is don’t be expecting too many sixes because of the size of the ground – chasing 50 off 5 overs could be tougher than the market expects, but you’d still have to lean towards backing the side who bowls first given they are likely to get the breaks with the weather.
