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888sport 4/1 Dhawan to top score and India to win (sign up for a 888sport free bet)
Ladbrokes 10/3 Azhar Ali to top score for Pakistan (sign up for a Ladbrokes free bet)
The Champions Trophy Final Betting Tips
There are shrieks, jeers, and cheers, and on Sunday, that atmosphere will be transferred to The Oval in London for the ICC Champions Trophy Final.
It was the final everyone wanted after Pakistan expertly beat England by eight wickets on Wednesday, and it was a similar result for India just a day later, setting up one of the best finals in recent years.
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Both teams started the competition in the same group and had fairly similar results, both winning two and losing one. For Pakistan however, that loss was to India.
Naturally, that makes India favourites for the tie at 4/9 with Ladbrokes, but England were favourites on Wednesday and Pakistan’s game with India was thwarted by rain making a Duckworth Lewis win an incredible tough task.
What they will have to do is though is bowl much better against them. India were on top form against them at Edgbaston finishing their 48 overs on 319-3, with Rohit Sharma knocking 91 and captain Virat Kohli scoring an unbeaten 81.
In fact, their batting has been brilliant throughout the series with Shikhar Dhawan, Sharma and Kohli scoring a huge 874 runs between them. Runs will be on the cards from them, and Dhawan to top score and India to win looks a handy bet at 4/1 with 888sport.
But Pakistan’s bowling game has been fantastic in every game but against India. They blew away England and in Junaid Khan and Hasan Ali, they have two of the tournament’s most in form bowlers. The latter looks a safe bet for Pakistan’s top wicket taker at 11/4 after taking the wicket of Johnny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes in the Semi Final.
The game is very much dependent on how Pakistan’s bowling fares against the Indian batsman. If Pakistan can take some early wickets and keep the dangerous three batsmen from scoring big, they are in with a great chance as India’s bowling can be got at.
Where Pakistan surprised England was in the confidence in their batting, losing only two wickets and putting on 118 for the first wicket. Much of that was down to opening batsman Azhar Ali, who scored 76 in just 100 balls. That stability at the top will be key. Against India he was his nation’s top scorer, hitting 50, but he’ll have to hit closer to 100 if he’s going to help his team over the line.
He’s at 10/3 to top score for Pakistan with most boomaker sites, and add a win to that and odds of 10/1 look a solid gamble. Babar Azam has been devastating for Pakistan towards the middle order, he also could do some damage, particularly when looking at the boundary odds. But the result will very much depend on how India perform with the bat.
What is certain is it’ll be an exciting tie both on and off the pitch. Let’s just hope the weather holds up…
