Bet on Sri Lanka to benefit from home World Cup advantage
Published:Kumar Sangakkara believes that the fact that the Cricket World Cup is being played on the sub continent gives Sri Lanka an advantage over some of the other nations taking part in the tournament.
Sri Lanka are 9/2 in the Cricket World Cup betting to win the tournament for the first time since 1996, with the country co-hosting the event with India and Bangladesh.
The fact that the Sri Lankan players will be more familiar with the type of pitches to be used should hand them a slender edge over the likes of Australia, England and South Africa, even if they would not have performed directly on the pitches that are to host the games.
Sri Lankan captain Sangakkara is not concerned that the actual pitches will be new to his squad and feels that he has both the batting and bowling attack to reach the latter stages of the tournament.
Sangakkara said: “I think every World Cup is a great opportunity to win it no matter where you play. This one playing in our neck of the woods probably gives us a slighter edge than the other teams.”
Sri Lanka have also shown a good World Cup pedigree in the last two tournaments, being eliminated on both occasions by eventual winners Australia, in the semi finals in South Africa in 2003 and four years ago in the final in the West Indies.
Australia are one of the other six nations alongside Sri Lanka in Group A, with the top four after all of the teams have played each other in a round-robin format progressing to the quarter finals.
Sri Lanka are 13/8 in the Group A betting to progress as group winners and this looks a strong possibility as they will play the majority of these games on home soil in at Pallekele, Suriyawewa and Colombo.
A £25 stake on New Zealand finishing at the head of the Group A would return £150. New customers can sign up here for a free £25 bet.
