Profiles / Editor / 05 April 2007 /

With the remaining eight teams moving islands over the next day or so, the 2007 Cricket World Cup takes a brief break until Saturday's huge showdown between old rivals Australia and England, which could see the end of Michael Vaughan's side's hopes after the heart-breaking defeat by Sri Lanka.

So we'll take a break from previewing matches and concentrate on one of Betfair's more popular long-term markets on the Caribbean showpiece, one which has attracted around £200,000 worth of business - the leading runscorer of the whole tournament.

Runs have been a bit harder to come by since the start of the Super 8 phase, with just three scores totalling 250 or more (two of those came against the West Indies), but there is no doubt that it has been Australia's Matthew Hayden that has separated himself from the field.

Hayden is now the 2.4 favourite to be top runscorer, not a bad position to be in for a player who had previously announced his retirement from the one-day game at the end of the 2005 Ashes series and has now managed to amass 395 runs in his five innings since the start of this event.

But his return to the shorter version of the game has coincided with a purple patch of form, with four centuries in the 20 games since the comeback in September 2006 in the DLF Cup, and another four scores of 50 or over to make an amazing average of 64.94.

An innings of 29 against the Netherlands in the group stage is his lowest score so far, but it was the 158 he bludgeoned against the West Indies that took him from being a contender to being a strong favourite in this tricky market.

The knock was the highest ever by an Australian in the World Cup and second-highest against the West Indies while he became only the fourth batsman in World Cup history to hit back-to-back centuries, after the 101 he scored against the world's leading one-day side South Africa.

The West Indies innings was all the more important considering it took Hayden some 18 balls to get off the mark, and that he ended up totalling 158 off only 143 balls. He is certainly aided by having Adam Gilchrist alongside him opening the batting, and the fact that Australia have so many batting options means there is not a huge amount of pressure on any one player, something that gives Hayden the freedom to play the innings he sees fit.

According to Betfair's punters it is one of Hayden's team-mates who is his main danger, and it comes as no surprise that it is captain Ricky Ponting, who never seems to be anything other than a sound betting proposition, be it long-term or innings by innings in top score markets - he is a 8.2 shot in this market.

Ponting has managed only four innings since the start of the tournament, but has still piled up 262 runs and could be the person to benefit if his opener loses form the rest of the way - it is also worth remembering that most of the players towards the top of the market could have as many as five or six innings left to play, so there is a lot of room for manoeuvre still.

He has already passed 90 twice and reached 113 against Scotland to open the tournament strongly and whenever he comes to the crease, especially if it is early in an innings, he is likely to pile up a huge score.

The same could also be said for the two South African challengers to Hayden's lead, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis - who form part of a fantastic batting line-up that should regularly put up large totals if they can overcome a current inconsistent run of form.

Opener Smith is currently on offer at 7.2 after scoring 332 runs so far, with all-rounder Kallis a little longer at 8.2 after scoring a fine century in their win over the Netherlands, and reaching at least 48 every time he has been at the crease.

But the problem for the Proteas pair is the danger that they may not reach the semi-final stage, giving Australian rivals (as well as Sri Lanka and New Zealand challengers) an advantage of at least one game, and possibly two.

As well as South Africa have played over the last two years, it seems likely that they are going to have to battle England for the final place in the semi-finals, with the April 17 clash in Barbados looming up as the vital match unless England shock Australia or South Africa end New Zealand's unbeaten record.

The other two teams providing main competition in the market are New Zealand and Sri Lanka, both of whom are in very good or at least decent form, and should be in position where one more win would put them all but in the semi-finals.

New Zealand's batsmen have not had to be at their best so far, with three of their five wins compiled fairly easily, but most of them have had a least one decent score. It has been skipper Stephen Fleming though who has starred in compiling 280 runs, including an unbeaten 102 in the nine-wicket win over Bangladesh last time out - he can still be backed at 18.

The silky smooth left-hander again enjoys the advantage of opening the batting, and he has reached at least 45 in his last four knocks, improving on the inconsistent form he had shown during the CB Series and Chappell-Hadlee matches over the Antipodean summer. Scott Styris (60) would also be a danger, having scored 258, but he is going to need at least one huge innings to catch the likes of Hayden and Ponting.

The same also applies to Sri Lanka duo Sanath Jayasuriya (19) and Mahela Jayawardene (38), although the former has been in fantastic form in the twilight of his career and the 115 he scored against the West Indies was one of the knocks of the tournament, as he battled cramps and dehydration.

Outside the semi-final contenders, there is little to look at, although England still have hopes of making the final-four, so Kevin Pietersen (42) would have to be worth a short mention in closing, in case he can accumulate some big scores and to add to his 227 runs so far, but that is surely too far off the blistering pace being set by Hayden and the rest.

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