India v Sth Africa - 2nd Test

THESE two teams are head and shoulders the most attacking outfits in world cricket - if you take out Australia - yet could only inspire a dull draw in the first Test in Chennai.

With 1498 runs and only 25 wickets in Chennai, even cricket crazy Indian fans called for oxygen to stay awake as batsmen became flat track bullies and bowlers lambs to the slaughter.

After warily eyeing each other off like prizefighters, there is little doubt that both teams will look to up the ante and go more for the jugular in the second Test in Ahmedabad starting Thursday.

However with batsmen high on confidence, bowlers battle weary and the Ahmedabad pitch traditionally not conducive to results (three of the last four Tests there have ended in draws) will five days be enough to procure a result?

The days of big-spinning pitches in India - where matches would often be over in three days - look to be over with curators striving to produce even more batting belters to suit the crash-bang style of the Indian Premier League which starts this month.

Spin will no doubt come into this match at some stage - with hot and muggy weather in the region suggesting the surface could crack late in the Test - but by then the Test could be meandering towards another draw. Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble (under something of a clould with a groin problem) will need to bowl at their absolute best to rattle through arguably the strongest batting lineup in world cricket.

We think there is every chance this will be a draw ($2.10) but we hate tipping draws in cricket so we are more than happy to steer away from head-to-head match betting and instead look for some tasty dividends in batting and exotic markets.

Certainly though, Indian supporters should not be deterred from backing their team ($2.70) even though the world's greatest player Sachin Tendulkar is out with a groin injury.

Astonishingly, India has actually done better without Tendulkar. Since the Little Master began his Test career, India has a 33 percent winning record in the Tests that he has missed compared to a 31 percent record when he has played. So, on the evidence of history, it is certainly not a case of no Tendulkar, no India.

Also fans of South Africa ($5) can take heart in the fact they are far from daunted playing in India. The Proteas have won three, lost three and drawn two Tests in India which shows they are made of sterner stuff than some international teams who simply roll over and want to go home when they get their first sniff of a spicy curry.

Although many roads lead to a draw, the result of this match is in the too hard to call category so let's look for some other ways to make cash.

SUGGESTED BETS

GET ON GANGLES

LOVE him or loathe him, we think former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is on the verge of recapturing some of his very best form and is the value batting bet of the Test.

Ganguly has been a much more contented man since former coach Greg Chappell got the bullet and he doesn't have to worry about the captaincy or even one-day cricket anymore.

The "Raj'' showed in Australia last summer he had the stomach for a fight as he took it up to the Australians and compiled some respectable knocks without quite being able to nail a big century.

His batting tailed off a bit at the end of the Australian tour but we are convinced a huge score is just around the corner. He scored just 24 in the first Test against South Africa - but had to sit in the dressingroom for an eternity as Virender Sehwag (319) and Rahul Dravid (111) ran amok.

Ganguly also has plenty of happy memories batting in Ahmedabad where he averages 81 which is superior to Dravid (av. 61), VVS Laxman (av. 50) and Sehwag (av. 17).

We think Ganguly represents very good value at $7.0 with Sportsbetand $6.50 in the Lasseters Sportbook market on India's first innings hi-bat. Sehwag heads the betting at $4 but he is always just one hot-blooded shot away from disaster while we certainly would not be going anywhere near Tendulkar's likely replacement Yuvraj Singh at $6. Yuvraj simply doesn't have the head for Test cricket.

If, as we think, this Test could end in another draw, a batsman would almost certainly win the man of the match award and Ganguly would also be worth a few bucks in MOM betting, at $15 with Bet365.

SMITH BANKER

Here's a bet you can take to the bank. South African skipper Graeme Smith at $1.80 to score more second Test runs than Indian opener Wasim Jaffer ($1.90) in the market at Bet365.

Smith is one of the most impressive characters in world cricket, a man who loves a dogfight. He averages 48 in Test cricket and his list of recent scores reads 35, 73, 232, 62, 10, 147 and 85.

By contrast, Jaffer, the slightly-built Indian, boasts a Test average of just 35 and has a poor form line against some of the world's best bowlers.

Jaffer's stats in Australia last summer - where he scored just 49 runs in three Tests at an average of eight - were a major embarrassment.

There is little doubt that Jaffer is better on home soil but we would like to be taking Graeme Smith into bat for us in this betting market every day of the week.

© 2008 Punting Ace.com