Bet on Dilshan to continue form and be top runscorer
Published:Tillakaratne Dilshan’s unbeaten century helped Sri Lanka ease past England in their Cricket World Cup quarter final and he now looks the most likely to end the tournament as its top runscorer.
Dilshan has already racked up 394 runs at the tournament, which puts him second in the overall standings, 28 behind England’s Jonathan Trott.
However, with Trott now eliminated from the Cricket World Cup, the Sri Lankan opener is now in pole position to take over and 5/2 looks a decent price on him finishing at the head of the scoring charts at the end of the tournament.
In seven innings Dilshan has already score two hundreds and a 50 and it now looks a four-man contest to finish top scorer.
His main rivals are likely to be Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara and Indian opening duo Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, but with Sri Lanka having what on paper looks the easier semi-final preference is with Dilshan.
The one problem with Dilshan is that his mentality at the top of the innings is that of all-out attack, which means he is either liable to get a big score or nothing.
Sangakkara has already scored a century against New Zealand in the tournament and another big score against the opposition would make him overpriced in the Cricket World Cup betting at 4/1 to be top runscorer.
However, batting down the order could result in him getting little or no time at the crease if Dilshan and Upal Tharanga continue their recent good form.
India have the tougher semi-final against Pakistan, but there is a strong likelihood that one of their two openers will make a significant contribution.
Sehwag is similar in style to Dilshan and therefore Tendulkar is the more sensible bet to register a higher score.
Tendulkar is also 5/2 to finish top runscorer for the tournament and is currently 15 runs shy of Dilshan with a maximum of two matches remaining.
A £20 stake on Sehwag being the top runscorer at the Cricket World Cup would return £140. New customers can sign up here to take advantage of free bets totalling up to £60.
