The ICC Champions Trophy has proved a tough competition for spread bettors to call in the past with the five tournaments to date all producing a different winner, including the washed-out 2003 final which couldn’t separate India and Sri Lanka.
Punters to have sold the Australia/West Indies supremacy spread for the last final, in November 2006, will remember how after a promising start from Gayle and Chanderpaul an upset was denied by an eventual eight wicket win for the Aussies, decided by the controversial Duckworth-Lewis method.
Buyers of either of the finalists’ total run spreads will be interested to know that the three finals unaffected by the elements have produced 1456 runs in their six innings, with an average innings total of 243. The largest innings total was set by India in 2000, where they smashed 295 runs off the fast South African bowling attack, and no doubt spread buyers would love to see a repeat this year. However, apart from than that impressive score, other finalists have not posted big totals - a concern to buyers of the total runs spreads. Sporting Index’s 50-ups market (1pt awarded for every run over 50 in the final) is certain to attract the attention of cricket spread betting punters. Sellers of the spread will have noted that in the five finals since 1998 only seven players have scored over 50 runs in the final with those seven players contributing a total of 263 runs to the spread make-ups over the last 11 years. Buyers of the spread may want to look at a much more recent guide to the possible outcome though, and will be pleased that in the opening eight matches of this year’s tournament there were an additional 626 runs scored by players to have reached half centuries while the total contribution to the ton-up spread markets has been 75.
Punters eyeing up the supremacy spread for the match might like to know that the largest winning total (in the finals that weren’t affected by the weather) was by four wickets which happened in both 1998 and 2000. Spread sellers may on the other hand prefer to find out about the smallest winning margin – England’s 2004 final defeat to the Windies. A particularly interesting point to note for those that enjoy in-play spread betting is that the four outright winners all batted second and chased down the winning score.
Sporting Index also offer a number of player performance spread markets. Spread bettors looking at batsmen’s individual performances should note that the highest score in the five finals was hit by Sourav Ganguly back in 2000 - an impressive 117 off just 130 balls. Among the bowlers, spread punters may also recall Jacques Kallis taking a breathtaking five for 30 runs in the 1998 final. One of the great all round performances came in the 06/07 climax, to the delight of those that bought Shane Watson’s performance points spread (where players are awarded 1pt per run, 10pts per catch, 20pts per wicket and 25pts for a stumping). The Australian took two wickets and made 57 not out.