World Cup Betting / Ed Hawkins / 10 February 2011 /

Ed Hawkins is on hand to guide you through the top-bat market for the tournament and suggests a couple of big-priced wagers. Follow him on Twitter here

It is no secret that opening batsmen dominate top runscorer markets in one-day cricket. At the risk of repeating myself (I write these lines every time a top-bat market is previewed) openers get to face the ball when it is at its hardest, have the opportunity to bat for the maximum time and, crucially, during the majority of the powerplay overs.

Couple that with a team which is likely to go deep into the tournament and you have the right formula. The head start opening batsmen get against the minnow sides, like Afghanistan, Canada, Netherlands and Ireland should not be discounted, either.

Putting your faith in a No 1 or 2 for glory is tried and trusted, whether it be 50-over cricket or Twenty20. The last two World Cups have seen openers dominate; Matthew Hayden in 2007 and Sachin Tendulkar in 2003.

So that is where our initial investigations should begin. Our first job is to rule out the two favourites, Tendulkar at [14.00] and Virender Sehwag at [14.50].

We have nothing against Tendulkar and if you have backed him you have a perfectly good
wager. It is just that tipping him would be lazy and anyone with even a modicum of cricket knowledge would choose him.

They would probably plump for Sehwag, too. But here comes the science: Out of 189 innings as an opener, Sehwag has survived past the 15th over on just 35 occasions. In the last two years (29 innings) Sehwag has batted past the 15 in only five matches.

We need someone who is going to last a little longer, even if India should at least reach the semi-finals. Our next port of call is Sri Lanka, where opening pair Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan have credentials.

Tharanga is priced from [34.00] to [38.00] and is 12th on the list of top runscoers in the last two years. Dilshan, at [27.00] to [30.00] is comfortably the most underrated opener in the lists. In the last two years and previous 12 months he is 10th and sixth respectively on the run charts and he is surely worth a wager with local knowledge in his favour.

In terms of statistics, Australian Shane Watson and South African Hashim Amla are deserving of respect. Watson, who has tremendous experience batting in Asia, is the top ODI runscorer in the world in the last two years while Amla, with 1,308 runs, is the surprise leader in the last 12 months.

Watson averages 44 in the sub-continent on the last five years, making him seventh-best on
the list of non-Asian batsmen. Amla is rated at No 2 with a mark of 62.

Another opener worth a mention is the explosive Tamim Iqbal, who is Bangladesh's top man. Tamim has a hugely impressive strike rate of 97 in the last 12 months, and a solid runscoring record to boot, and he could make a big dent in prices ranging from [50.00] to [70.00].

Our final pick is to break with protocol and advise middle-order batsman AB De Villiers thanks to number crunching. His record is outstanding. His price is outstanding. At [30.00] to [34.00] he cannot be ignored.

He has the best average in Asia in the last five years, is fifth on the overall list of runscorers in the last two and is second in the last 12 months.
Best bets: T Dilshan top World Cup runscorer at [27.00] to [30.00], S Watson top World Cup runscorer at [16.00], AB De Villiers top World Cup runscorer at [30.00].

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: