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Commonwealth Bank Series -
Game 2
WELL, well, well.
Spitting allegations against Harbhajan Singh, a Brett Lee beam ball controversy and an astonishing Indian uprising in the first CB series final.
At this time of year we are normally talking about football but this powderkeg summer has kept cricket firmly on everyone’s lips.
India’s uprising in Sydney shows you can’t write off this plucky touring team which – even with controversy continually bubbling around it – has refused to meekly surrender like Indian teams before it.
Hats off to the Indians I say and their epic performance in Sydney means all roads lead to the Gabba for another fiery showdown on Tuesday.
With a 1-0 lead under the belt, and eyeing off tossing Australia out of the finals altogether, the Indians are probably overs at around the $2.90 mark in Brisbane with Australia at $1.40.
We have put the match itself into the “”too hard to call’’ category and advise you to stay out of head-to-head match betting because you just never know what twist this summer is going to take next.
We have, however, unearthed some ways to make some cash.
SUGGESTED BETS
Take on Andrew Symonds like there is no tomorrow..
Has Andrew Symonds – Australia’s supposed one-day master blaster – been sighted in this one-day series? We can hardly remember seeing him at the crease … and that’s because he has hasn't been able to strike a blow. He has been to the crease nine times and collected just 132 runs at 16.5 with a top score of 59. Perhaps the racial controversies have unsettled him or perhaps he is just feeling the extra scrutiny of being Australia’s $1.5 million man in the Indian Premier League.
You can take on Symonds in various head-to-head run markets. The one we particularly like is Mike Hussey at $1.95 to score more runs than Symonds ($1.85) with Sportsbet, considering Hussey has been one of the few Australians to fire with a one-day average of 47 this summer. Hussey also loves the Gabba, the ground where he made his Test debut, and has been rarely conquered in Brisbane in one-day cricket.
The other Symonds-related bet that takes our fancy is Indian young gun Rohit Sharma at $1.90 to score more runs than Symonds ($1.87) with Sportingbet. Sharma is being touted as the next Sachin Tendulkar and that’s a good enough wrap for us. Also considering Symonds will no doubt feel the increased pressure of expectation of playing before his home crowd at the Gabba, we think he is a good bet to continue his miserable one-day series with another low score.
BRACKS BET
Glamour quick Brett Lee gets all the plaudits but Australia’s unheralded left-armer Nathan Bracken just keeps racking up the wickets. He heads the CB Series wicket takers list with 18 at 17.55 and we think he is incredible value at $1.60 (with TAB Sportsbet) to finish the series as the leading wicket-taker. Brett Lee (15 wickets at 19.86) is three behind but would need a huge wicket haul, and a poor spell from Bracken, to trump his teammate.
Bracken also relishes playing at the Gabba, with the Brisbane humidity suiting his curling swing, and boasts a one-day international bowling average of 22 in Brisbane. By comparison, Lee averages 39 with the ball in the nine one-dayers he has played at the Gabba. Another thing working in Bracken’s favour is the series could potentially finish in Brisbane and Lee would not get another chance to overhaul his teammate. For the reasons mentioned before, we would also suggest a medium-sized bet Sportingbet’s market on Bracken ($1.95) to take more wickets than Lee ($1.85) at the Gabba.
Summary of suggested plays . . .
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1 unit on Hussey over Symonds at 1.95 with Sportsbet
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1 unit on Rohit Sharma over Symonds at 1.9 with Sportingbet
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3 units on Bracken to be the leading series wicket taker at 1.6 with TAB
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