The two old rivals meet for the second time in the tournament when they come together for the ICC Champions Trophy Final on Saturday. You can be assured that the Oval will be rocking because when these two met at Edgbaston in the group stage, the sheer atmosphere alone was remarkable and it helped produce a fantastic match between the two nations out on the pitch.
India won that encounter by an emphatic 124 runs through the D/L because rain reduced the contest to 48 hours per side. But India were never in trouble in the match as they opened with 319/3 and then Pakistan only made it to 164 all out in response. So that was a lopsided contest, but since that defeat, Pakistan have come alive. They beat out South Africa in a thrilling contest and then edged past Sri Lanka in a scrappy affair.
India v Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy Final Betting Odds
India 4/9, Pakistan 7/4
But then they were back to their brilliant best as they were against South Africa as they took out hosts England in the semi final. It was another display of brilliant bowling from them and they destroyed England’s powerful batting line up. But that is the thing with Pakistan, on their day they are either brilliant or woeful and you just never know which side is going to turn up.
India overcame a shock defeat against Sri Lanka in the group stage to put themselves into the semi finals where they faced up against Bangladesh. It was a bit of curse for India in the match as they easily chased down Bangladesh’s modest total of 264 from their innings. India got there with just the loss of one wicket and that, combined with their imperious win over South Africa in the groups stage to ensure that they got to the knockout stage, shows what a force they are.
India have triumphed in 12 of their 15 previous 50-over World Cups, World Twenty20s and Champions Trophy matches against Pakistan. They have the top two batsmen in the tournament in their line up, with top scorer Shikhar Dhawan trading at 3/1 to be the top India Batsman at Paddy Power in the match, which is the same price as the tournament’s second highest scorer Rohit Sharma and then you can throw in Virat Kohli at 13/5 who is the fifth top scorer in the tournament so far. That’s some impressive batting that India have.
But then you have the dangerous and sometimes unpredictable bowling attack of Pakistan. Hasan Ali with his ten wickets in the tournament is the top bowler so far and Junaid Khan has backed up well with seven wickets to his name from just host three matches played. So if this does come down to to a battle between Pakistan’s power bowling or India’s power batting which is most likely to win out?
Pakistan have thrilled in their wins over South Africa and England on the way to the final, but once again they may come up short against their biggest rivals. The batting composure that is there from India, who are no strangers to what Pakistan are going to throw at them with the ball, is likely going to win the day. Back India to successfully retain their title
Paddy Power are running their promotional still for the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. Back a match winner before the game starts and if your team scores 300 or more runs (which is par for the course these days), but fails to win the match, then Paddy Power will give you your match result stake back as a free bet. There is a maximum one free bet of £20 per customer in this one and it applies to the first bet placed on the match. Register an account with Paddy Power and earn £30 worth of free bets as a welcome bonus from them and then early a weekly free bet in the VIP Loyalty Club!
