Pakistan best as Ladbrokes top price on all nations for Champions Trophy
Published:England have home advantage, Australia have won the last two instalments and it is South Africa that are tournament favourites, which may make it difficult to pick the winner of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.
However, for those that do believe they have identified the winner, all bets should be placed with Ladbrokes, who are guaranteeing the best price on all eight competing nations in the outright market.
The offer runs until 10:30am on June 6th, which is the day of the tournament opener between India and South Africa in Cardiff.
South Africa currently head the Champions Trophy betting at 4/1 and they look the most consistent among their batting, bowling and fielding.
Hashim Amla will display composure at the top of the innings, AB De Villiers knows how to big-hit in the middle of the order and with the ball, the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are capable of blitzing through an opposing line-up.
England come next at 5/1, but despite their home advantage, the one-day series with New Zealand suggests they are hard to back.
Their most destructive batsman Kevin Pietersen is out, while strike bowlers Steven Finn and Stuart Broad are also struggling with injury.
Australia have grown a fondness for this tournament and if Mitchell Starc continues to take wickets at the average that he has thus far in 2013, they could go close to winning a third consecutive Champions Trophy at 11/2.
But the most undervalued team in the betting could prove to be Pakistan at 8/1.
Bowling could be key throughout the tournament and one thing noted from the England v New Zealand series is that the ball has not moved around that much, especially given that a new ball is being used at each end.
Even without Shahid Afridi, Pakistan have a bowling unit to compete with the world’s best, with Saeed Ajmal perhaps the best one-day spinner in world cricket to keep the run rate down and take wickets in the middle overs.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Irfan will get bounce and there will be movement off the seam from Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz.
It is their batting where they could be majestic or dismal, but should Pakistan turn up more often than not, they are serious contenders.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
