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Bank 47.40

Stoke, the big big boys from the Potteries who will launch the ball into the area at every opportunity against the pretty, but powderpuff Baggies.

West Brom are desperate for points after the wins for Wolves & West Ham over the weekend, and the unexpected points for Blackpool against Spurs last week as they are now in the dropzone.

Stoke are by no means safe and will not want to be sucked into the basement battle for survival and 3pts here will see them 8 points clear, a defeat will really close the gap and could set a few nerves jangling.

In my opinion West Brom don't have the size at the back to prevent the Kenwyne Jones / John Carew pairing having a field day.

BACK Stoke to win £10 @ 1.94

BACK More than 2.5 goals £7.4 @ 2.22

With the bank at 42 there needs to be an improvement.

Having missed the start of the game a lot of the value has gone out of this match.
However, Nagpur is a good track to bat on and Canada have no pace to scare batsmen.

BACK Zimbabwe to score 250+ £22 @ 1.26

bet made after 15 overs

Bank back up to £56

Scotland were unbelievably poor against the Welsh and Ireland haven't covered themselves in glory either.

Ireland deserve to be favourites on current form, but the Scots form fluctuates dramatically and therefore 1.5 is a very short price and the margins of victory betting is also dangerous, it could be another scottish no show and Ireland win comfortably or Scotland may rediscover the form from the autumn internationals and almost pull off a win.

History says that this is normally a good match to watch and therefore

BACK Total match tries Over 3.5  £10 @ 1.89

BACK B O'Driscoll to score a try at anytime £4 @ 4.0

Bank carried forward £42

Bank £42.80

England bowled very poorly against the Netherlands, and unless they improve dramatically will be chasing around 400 today.
India also were not perfect with the ball against the Bangas.

Unless the pitch has some unexpected demons in it, and potentially even if it does then there appears no reason at all why India should not score at least 275, and with power hitters all the way potentially 300-325.

Therefore this is max bet territory

BACK India to score over 250 runs £42.80 @ 1.32 to win 13.70.

Bank 59.80

Should England be 1/2 - no, they very likely may win, but the price is too sort.
The total points line looks a little high - 41 pts is unlikely but if the French back line works or is as porous as it was vs Scotland then it is a possible total.
Chris Ashton to score a try anytime for someone in form and who is not restricted to the wing at 2.44 seems a reasonable price, unlike Mark Cueto at 5.1 (does not score regularly enough)
Total match tries over 3.5 @ 1.87 seems a fair price, unless the match becomes a real slugfest.

BACK Chris Ashton to score a try at anytime £7 @ 2.44

BACK Match Tries Over 3.5 £10 @ 1.87

Bank 51.60

Italy on the back of a right royal thumping by England, but a different beast at home and made Ireland work very hard. Saying that where England were clinical, Ireland made a large number of mistakes when in very good positions.

Wales made easy meat of a Scottish side, will be full of confidence and have a back line that is incisive, and should therefore win with a fair amount of margin to spare. The bet is

BACK Wales to win -4.5pts £10 @ 1.85

Whilst I think the Welsh will win by around 10-12pts the price for -9.5pts does not warrent a move up to this mark (currently around 2.0).

Things are not going well - bank now £44, but it must be said that the blog is making me consider my bets more.

So, onto todays games on a relaid pitch in Colombo.

Will the pitch have added spice ?
Will it last 100 overs ?
Will there be a dew factor ?

With a larger number of these unknowns it is difficult to find a pre-match selection with the possibility that the toss may place you behind the 8-ball as it were.

Reading the preview on Cricinfo leads me to the conclusion that this will be a low scoring game, and the Pakistan top order looked vulnerable against Kenya - although the middle order looked formidable.

With Pakistan batting first the bet will be to

Lay Hafeez as top Pakistan bat to win £8 @ 6.4 risking 43.20 .... so a loss will need a restart :-(.

Bank now stands at £69

Tonights game between a playoff chasing side away from home vs a side at the lower end of mid-table sets a fair puzzle.

Bet Over 1.5 goals £25 @ 1.37 to win £9.25 (less comm)

Reasoning, 50 goals in Charlton's away games at 3.5 goals a game and very few draws in County's home games lends itself to thinking that there is a likelihood of goals.

Bank back up to 84.75 following the easy ride for Man City.

Oz vs NZ on the road that is Nagpur (best part of 600 runs in the Eng/Neth game) so the likelihood is that there will be a fair quota of runs scored in this game - particularly if the new ball can be survived relatively intact as both sides have good strikers all the way down the order.

Will wait for the toss - and then look to back the batting side to score 250+

Bang vs Ireland, unfortunately for the Irish lads can only see one result here and that is a comfortable win for the locals. Fervent support, pitch knowledge and with a wealth of 'pace-off' bowling to call upon - and a lack of 'nip' to assist the Irish medium pacers.

Back Bangladesh to win £25 @ 1.3

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Following the Oz v NZ toss, NZ will bat therefore the bet is

Back NZ innings runs More than 225 £18 @ 1.32 & More than 250 £5 @ 1.65

There are two games that match the requirements - tonights home side with a decent away result and cannot therefore take it easy to progress (and where the home side would be considered the better of the two).

1. Man City (0-0)

2. Paris Saint Germain (2-2)

A low scoring draw would be sufficient for PSG as they have two away goals - and BATE have already proved they are capable of scoring - therefore the selection is

Back Manchester City to win £20 @ 1.22 to win £4.40

Bank is currently 60.54 (correction from previous value)