Friday’s action in the ICC Cricket World Cup comes from Trent Bridge Nottingham where Pakistan clash with the West Indies
Pakistan:
Pakistan come into the tournament as one of the outsiders, currently trading at around 20/1 to be crowned champions. They did win the Champions Trophy which was staged in the UK in 2017 when they were also relatively un-fancied but their results in the recent times have not been encouraging.
Pakistan lost 4-0 to England earlier this month and they were on the wrong end of a 5-0 clean sweep against Australia in UAE in March. They lost 3-2 in South Africa at the start of 2019 and in November last year they shared a 3 match series against New Zealand in UAE 1-1.
In the warm ups Pakistan lost to Afghanistan by 3 wickets and a subsequent hit out against Bangladesh was completely washed out.
In the 2015 World Cup Pakistan made it to the quarter finals where they lost to co-hosts Australia. Pakistan have been crowned champions once, back in 1992 and in 1999 when the finals were staged in UK they finished as runners up to Australia.
Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (Captain), Imam ul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain.
West Indies:
West Indies also fall into the outsiders category, quoted at similar odds to Pakistan in the outright winner market. However their 50 over format game has improved of late and they have a number of dangerous customers in the ranks including Chris Gayle and Andre Russell along with some very promising youngsters.
A 2-2 draw in a home series against tournament favourites England earlier this year was a very credible effort and in their most recent warm up game they beat New Zealand by 91 runs, thanks largely to a bat first total of 421.
West Indies won the first two editions of the World Cup, in 1975 and 1979, they were runners up in 1983 but haven’t made it to a final since then. In the 2015 World Cup they reached the quarter finals where they lost to co-hosts New Zealand.
Squad: Jason Holder (Captain), Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Fabian Allen, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Nicholas Pooran, Shai Hope, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell
Head to Head
Since 1975 the teams have met 133 times. West Indies have won 70, Pakistan have won 60 with 3 ties.
The most recent series between the sides came in West Indies in April 2017 and Pakistan won it 2-1. In Pakistan in October 2016 a weakened West Indies side were beaten 3-0.
The Betting, Click here for all markets
Pakistan 17/20
West Indies even money
Note prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Verdict:
Trent Bridge is known as a high scoring ground so this should be a cracking contest with the match result betting suggesting the teams are evenly matched.
Results wise West Indies have seemingly had the better preparation and they could be absolutely anything in this tournament. Meanwhile Pakistan might be short of confidence having found wins hard to come by but they did make plenty of runs in the recent series with England despite losing 4-0.
This venue could suit West Indies down to the ground and we side with two of their players to score a 50, Chris Gayle and Shai Hope.
Suggested Bets:
Batsman to score a Fifty in the match, Chris Gayle? (yes) at 27/20
Batsman to score a Fifty in the match, Shai Hope? (yes) at 29/20
Note prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
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