Sports Blog 09/02/2015: Tournament Preview - Cricket World Cup 2015, 13th February to 29th March 2015

The Cricket World Cup is nearly upon us, with the tournament starting on Valentine’s Day (or 10pm on Friday 13th here in the UK). As usual Spreadex is offering a wide-range of in-game options, Outright Index 60-40-20-10-0 spreads, fixed odds Tournament Winners, as well as country-based specials for all of the teams involved.

The group stage still remains the bugbear of many cricket fans, with it hard to see past the most obvious sides progressing to the quarter finals and beyond. The top 8 ranked ICC sides are expected to breeze through to the next round; however, teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are capable of causing an upset in the their respective groups.



Considering the tournament is being partially held in their country, and they are ranked number 1 in the world, Australia are favourites here at Spreadex, at an Outright Index of 32-35 and fixed odds of 2/1. They won their warm up match against India by 106 runs, as well as taking the Carlton Tri-Series by besting India and England. However they will face tough competition from fellow co-hosts New Zealand; both are in Group A, with the Kiwis at an Outright Index Spread of 24-27 and fixed odds of 5/1. There is a sentiment building that it could be New Zealand’s year after just falling short in the semi-finals in 2011, and should at the very least comfortably reach the quarter finals.

Alongside New Zealand and Australia are England and Sri Lanka: the former, after a mixed run up to the World Cup, are at an Outright Index of 18-21 with fixed odds of 10/1; the latter are at an Outright Index of 16-19 and at 12/1, after reaching the final in 2011. Closing out Group A is Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Scotland; out of the three, Bangladesh stand the best chance of escaping the group, at a Group A Index of 10-13 compared to Afghanistan at 3-6 and Scotland at 2-4. However, when looking at the overall Outright Index, things look dicier for these smaller teams: Bangladesh is at 4-7 and fixed odds of 500/1, whilst Afghanistan are at 0.1-1 and 5000/1, and Scotland, who look like they will be the whipping boys of the group, are at 0-0.5 and 5000/1.

Over in Group B it is a similar story, with the usual suspects looking to outshine a selection of minnows that may struggle on this world stage. The group has India, ranked 3rd, and South Africa, ranked 2nd, likely to be battling out for the top spot. After losses to Australia and England in the run up, current champions India have slipped slightly, and currently have an Outright Index spread of 19-22 compared to South Africa’s 28-31, with fixed odds of 9/1 and 11/4 respectively.

Pakistan and the West Indies are also likely to progress; the former reached the semi-final last tournament, and is at an Outright spread of 15-18 with fixed odds of 18/1, whilst West Indies, who Pakistan beat on their way to the semis in 2011, are 13-16 and 25/1. The group is rounded out with Zimbabwe, Ireland and the UAE, who look are in a similar position to Group A’s smaller sides. Zimbabwe are marginally the best of the bunch at a spread of 1-3 and fixed odds of 2000/1, better than Ireland’s 0.5-2 and 5000/1 and UAE’s 0.1-1, also at 5000/1.



In terms of the first couple of games, they are two beauties. Friday’s 10pm New Zealand v Sri Lanka kicks off proceedings, with the hosts favoured to take the game at a New Zealand/Sri Lanka Cricket Supremacy quote of 15-25. A tightly run race will be the game’s top batsman, with the Kiwis’ Kane Williamson favourite at 2/1, closing followed by Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara both at 3/1.

It is then an early start or a late night for UK cricket fans on Saturday, as Australia take on England at 3.30am. Unsurprisingly after their victory at the Tri-Series, the Aussies are favourite to win the match at a 20-30 Australia/England Cricket Supremacy spread. David Warner narrowly edges out Ian Bell as favourite for the top batsman in the game, at 11/4 to Bell’s 3/1. England then have four players at 4/1, with Moeen Ali, James Taylor, Alex Hales and Joe Root all vying for the top spot, whilst for Australia Steven Smith is at 10/3, Aaron Finch is at 7/2 with Shane Watson at 9/2.

Check back at Spreadex for fixed odds and spread betting options on this weekend’s other games, including South Africa v Zimbabwe, India v Pakistan and West Indies v Ireland.