ICC Champions Trophy Betting: India v Sri Lanka

Dinesh Karthik has been in imperious form during the warm up games

The first game of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy sees India take on South Africa in Cardiff. Richard O'Hagan takes a look at the key markets in this fascinating contest.

India v South Africa
Thursday June 6, 10:30 BST
Live on Sky Sports 1

India

The Indians have had a fantastic build-up to this competition, with convincing victories in both of their warm-up games. They conceded a big score to Sri Lanka but then easily overhauled it, whilst Australia were first bludgeoned for 308 and then skittled for 65. That last game will give them particular satisfaction, as they were 55-5 at one point in their own innings before Dinesh Karthik hit an unbeaten 146 at more than a run a ball. Their only real concern going into this opening match of the Champions Trophy will be the form of opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has scarcely scored a run either in the time that they have been in England or in the final few weeks of the IPL. 

Dhawan was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket after his stunning Test debut in March, where he broke the record for the fastest century on debut, but he also injured a finger in the field and has since struggled to find any sort of form. After leaving both Virender Sehwag and Gautham Gambhir behind, India were looking to Dhawan to kickstart their innings and his failure to do so thus far will be a big concern.

South Africa

South Africa go into this game with a multitude of problems. As if losing veterans Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis to injury before the end of May was not bad enough, they now find that the world's number one fast bowler, Dale Steyn, has a side strain and may play no part in the opening exchanges of the Champions Trophy. 

Then there is the strange case of Quinton de Kock. The wicketkeeper-batsman has joined the tour party as an unofficial member to cover for captain AB de Villiers. The official explanation is that this is because it is easier to have him with the team in case something happens to de Villiers, but this makes no sense at all as the same logic could apply to any player on any team. The only plausible reason is that de Villiers is carrying an injury, although there is also a wider consideration in that if South Africa were to be penalised for a slow over rate at any point in the competition then de Villiers could be banned for the rest of it as a result, as he would have committed three such offences as captain within the last year.

That sort of forward planning would suggest an undue level of pessimism on the Proteas' part, though, so we have to assume that one of the best one day batsmen in the world - one of only three to average more than 50 in both Test and ODI cricket - could miss a chunk of the tournament.

Venue and Conditions

One of the nice things about this tournament is that, for entirely commercial reasons, we can go back to referring to the Cardiff venue as Sophia Gardens. Predicting how it is going to play is difficult, as there hasn't been a one day international here at this time of year and host county Glamorgan do not play 50 over cricket. The forecast is for a warm sunny day and after a little early dew the conditions should favour the batsman. This might be a good venue to win the toss and bat second.

Match Odds

South Africa are 1.875/6 favourites at the moment, but those odds ignore their injury woes. India's price of 2.1411/10 scarcely seems to reflect their performance in the warm-up games, making them good value indeed.

Top Indian Batsman

Only three Indians have shown much form with the bat in the lead up, but it has been dramatic form. Virat Kohli struck 144 from just 120 balls against Sri Lanka, whilst MS Dhoni made 91 from 77 balls against Australia. The man to back, though, is Karthik, whose 146 against the Aussies followed an unbeaten 106 against Sri Lanka. That's 252 runs without being dismissed once and yet he's probably going to be around 4.67/2 in this market.

Top South Africa Batsman

Although he won't be at the most generous odds, the only man to back in this South African side at the moment is Hashim Amla. He is, arguably, the best all-round batsman in world cricket at the moment and is, along with de Villiers, in that elite club of those who average over 50 in both Tests and ODIs. He'll be at around 4.1n/a, but he loves English conditions and always performs well on big occasions.

Recommended Bet
Back India @ 2.1411/10