THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Sunday’s Asia Cup Final between SRI LANKA v PAKISTAN with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

Asia Cup Final

Sri Lanka v Pakistan

MATCH OVERVIEW:

After what has been a dramatic Asia Cup, it’s time for the Final on Sunday afternoon on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. At the start of the tournament, not many cricket fans would have said Sri Lanka would be here but they have battled really hard and come together as a team. It’s been nice to watch, especially given Sri Lanka turned into the “whipping boys” of International cricket for a while going through their transitional period. Their young player now have more experience and they are making less mistakes.

Pakistan come into the Final as favourites, but Sri Lanka managed to beat them just this Friday! It was an odd way for the fixtures to work out, but it just happened that way in the Super Fours. It was an excellent chance for both sides to see each other’s game right before the final, and I’m sure there will be a change in tactics etc. You’d have to say that Sri Lanka were even on the back foot going into the Super Four because they lost heavily to Afghanistan in their opening game of the tournament. Since then however they have picked up huge momentum and won every game sine – the shock of the tournament was the Sri Lanka win against India!

We will know Sri Lanka have their issues, but their bowling has been very impressive. Pakistan are without a few star bowlers and we all know their batting can have a lot of issues too. This should be a very competitive game and I do expect a closer game than the odds suggest.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

What better place to have the Final only Dubai International Stadium. We are more familiar with T20 cricket here because we’ve seen so much IPL cricket over the past few years with Covid19 moving the tournament from India. We’ve had a lot of action here at the Asia Cup and the first inning scores have been (in order of match played); 105 all out (chased), 147 all out (chased), 127/7 (chased), 192/2 (won), 183/7 (chased), 193/2 (won), 175/6 (chased), 181/7 (chased), 173/8 (chased), 129/6 (chased), 212/2 (won) and 121 all out (chased). I think it’s pretty clear you want to bowl first here if you win the toss. It’s a no brainer, even with final pressure chasing.

RECOMMENDED BET:

I’ve already stated above I feel this game will be closer than the odds suggest, and I’m happy to back Sri Lanka at 2.6 or bigger. Pakistan are a great side, however they are missing some bowlers and we all know their batting can be hit or miss. Sri Lanka have bowled well for the most part and although Pakistan should be favourites, I don’t feel there should be such a gap between the prices. Judging from the ground data too there’s a bias in bowling first so if Sri Lanka win the toss that will bring the sides closer together too. Given that angle I’m going to keep my pre-off stakes low, but Sri Lanka are the value here in my opinion.

The Edge Says:
One point win Sri Lanka to beat Pakistan at 2.6 with Betdaq Exchange.

View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/SriPak

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

Fair to say this one might be a little tricky for trading in-running because we do have very good batting conditions, but neither side are reliable with the bat. I wouldn’t trust either side to be on them for long when batting. We know from the IPL, and indeed this tournament, it’s very hard to control the game in the second innings for the bowling side if there is a heavy dew. We have had a lot of successful chases here, so I feel the best in-running angle will be getting on the side chasing perhaps at the break. If the dew kicks in early we could see a big finishes from the side batting first so it might not be a good idea to start building a position in the final five overs of the first innings.